Anyone in the market to buy a house or condominium in the last five years has likely felt frustration at the dearth of options. The Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors just reported “a significant drop in the number of new listings and total residential sales” for the first quarter of 2018, which just ended. [1]
But the news is better for those who’d like to purchase a something recently constructed.
Bill Smith told Saline Journal that he is seeing “a slow, but improving production of new construction homes and condos.” As Senior Loan Officer with MB Financial Bank, it’s his business to track these trends in real-time. [2]
He believes that “new home construction will continue to grow and fill in some of the need the existing home market cannot satisfy. It seems like we’ve seen an uptick in new home construction starts in 2018, but a slight dip in February according to the latest report from the US Census Bureau.” [3]
Here in Saline, Jim Haeussler, President of Peters Building, believes that new construction could even better address demand if there were more approved projects here. “Short of Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids — the two consistenly best markets — Saline is on the next tier of best places to be.” [4]
He went on to tell Saline Journal that he expects that 2018 “will be somewhat of a ‘transitional year,’ with two national builders coming into the area.” It could mean an increased inventory of anywhere from “slightly more to twice as many.”
Either way, it’s not the same making a deal for an existing home. For example, closing on a contractor “spec” house can happen in anywhere from one to four months. Alternatively, if you have your heart set on something from scratch, anticipate waiting nine months or more for occupancy.
“The actual ‘building’ part can be done in four months,” Mr Haeussler noted. “The rest is permitting and regulation compliance.”
Prepare to have a relationship with your builder. Think in terms of a process that must be in the best interests of both parties if it’s going to work at all. Remember, too, that things such as warrantied product and labor support means that your time with this seller won’t often end when you take possession.
If you can see yourself in this discussion, the housing market in Saline may not be as tight for you as other buyers out looking today.
References
- “Year-to-date sales prices are up, total sales are down” Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors.
- MB Financial Bank (home page).
- “New Residential Sales” United States Census Bureau.
- Peters Building (home page).
