NEW HOMES ARE WHERE YOU'LL FIND QUALITY AND VALUE

By Theresa Swanson

Recently I attended an open house at a local builder’s model home and struck up a conversation with a Realtor I had never seen at a new-home event. I was curious as to what brought her out to tour the community and models. 

Her response was quite blunt. She needed homes to sell. Her buyers were tired of finding themselves in multi-offer bidding wars on the very few homes in MLS that were worth owning. 

She told me about bank-owned homes where you couldn’t turn on the water or power for an inspection, but the asking price was no bargain; about homes that investors had purchased and remodeled using inferior materials and workmanship. 

She wanted to offer her customers value; she wanted them to be able to walk into a home and actually purchase it. So she decided that new-home construction was the best way to go.

The September housing numbers definitely back up my new Realtor friend’s comments. In fact, the number of listings for single-family homes is down nearly 8 percent over last year, and there’s only a four-month supply. When you combine that with the fact that values have gone up an average of 9 percent, there’s no doubt that this market has turned around.

And for those who are looking for their next home, I have good news. New-home starts have reached their highest level since 2007. So you won’t have to sift through tired old homes trying to find one that will work. Construction on your clean, new and just for you home is probably just about done!