And although slight upticks have been seen year-to-year in terms of manufactured home permits, new housing installations in general remain far less common than was seen five years ago.
As of the end of July, Emmet County building official Martin Van Berlo said his department had issued 16 permits for the construction of new
Emmet County’s figures do not include projects in Bear Creek Township, which operates its own building department. From Jan. 1 through Aug. 18 this year, Bear Creek issued two permits for new homes, up from one permit during that timeframe in 2010.
For all categories of building permits — including residential and commercial projects, new construction as well as alterations — Emmet County’s tally through the first seven months of 2011 was 264, up from 239 in the same period last year.
“Just as in the past years, the majority of the work we’re seeing is additions, remodels, small deck additions, things like that,” Van Berlo said.
Charlevoix County’s building department issued 21 permits for building single-family homes from January through July this year, a decrease of six from the same timeframe in 2010. Eight permits were issued for manufactured and mobile homes through the first seven months of 2011, reflecting a year-to-year increase of two units.
For all categories of building permits, Charlevoix County’s January-through-July total this year was 325, a decrease of two permits from year-ago totals.
The pace of pulling permits remains significantly slower in Charlevoix County than in 2006, a year before a slowdown in the housing sector began to take root. In 2006, 497 total permits were issued during the January-to-July period, with 78 of these for new stick-built and manufactured homes.
Emmet County doesn’t have data allowing for comparisons of this year’s permit trends with those of five years ago. But Van Berlo said the pace is significantly slower than in the past, and that remodeling and alterations have taken on a more significant share of the construction value.
Prices for existing homes in the area have dropped considerably since the slowdown in the housing sector — and the local and national economies in general — three to four years ago. Van Berlo noted that the supply of existing homes has remained ample.
“People tending to be buying those and remodeling rather than building new,” he said.
Even with remodeling expenses factored in, Van Berlo said it’s often less expensive to opt for an existing home than to build a new one.
Jeff Grantham, owner of Grantham Building and Remodeling in Petoskey and president of the Little Traverse Association of Home Builders, agreed that pricing trends in the existing-home market continue to send some buyers in that direction rather than building new, or to stay in their current homes and improve them.
The statistics seem consistent with the patterns Grantham has seen in his own construction business. A few years ago, new-home construction was Grantham’s exclusive focus, but he hasn’t worked on one of those projects since early 2010.
“In my case, (this year’s workload has) been strictly remodeling pretty much since February,” he said. “I’ve been nonstop and I don’t see myself slowing down.”
Others in the homebuilder organization who offer remodeling services also have been staying relatively busy, he added.
“The guys that I’m talking to are saying they’re not swamped — they don’t have a backlog like they used to,” he said. “It seems to be just-in-time calls.”
In some cases, financing challenges seem to be standing in the way of buying or building a home, Grantham noted.
“Banks are requiring much more as far as a down payment from people,” he said. “Even the most qualified people are asked to put up as much as 20 percent. That’s not something that somebody’s used to.”
This requirement is indicative of a more conservative lending stance — both in banks’ own practices and governmental requirements — than was seen prior to the national housing-market crash a few years ago.
“Banks still need to lend,” Grantham said. “It’s the only way they make money. They’re starting to lend again, but they’re much more judicious in where they place their money.”
And with foreclosed properties — which lenders often price for a quick sale after repossession — often included when comparable home prices are considered for appraisal purposes, Grantham said it can be challenging to secure workable financing for a new home project.
Grantham said he does sense some upward potential for building contractors, both in remodeling jobs and new construction.
Local contractors have plans in the works for several new home projects this fall, Grantham said. And although some consumers have put off plans to buy or improve a home because of economic uncertainty, he said various needs — such as growing families needing more room or empty-nesters ready to downsize — may have contributed to a pent-up demand.
Source http://www.petoskeynews.com/
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