Clark County, WA is alive with the sound of hammers. Builders are pulling permits for homes faster than the local carpenters can put them together. In fact the average build time has swelled to a sluggish 6-7 months because there simply is not enough tradesman to keep up with the flurry of buyers.
Often when new construction is booming it comes at the expense of resale homes. The new homes tend to fetch higher prices and can create an artificial ceiling on the values of similar sized resales. But for the most part, that is just not happening right now.
There are several things helping to push new construction homes up in value, including increased regulatory requirements on development, rising land values, and materials and labor costs. Newer homes tend to be built on smaller lots in more compact neighborhoods. The advantage of new construction aside from the oblivious, 'newness' lies in the fact that neighborhoods developed since the 1990s follow better planning guidelines and are more uniform and offer superior infrastructure. These new homes have the latest floor plans and design elements.
For the buyer the trade off is new and modern versus older, possibly dated but with a larger lot and wider streets. Lately another trade off is the 6 month wait for construction. So as long as construction times remain out in the half-year range, resale homes will continue to challenge the values of similar brand new homes. For sellers this means now is a great time to list your home. At some point demand for sub-contractors will begin to lure people to the industry. When the construction time returns to a more tradition 2-3 months, new homes will begin to pull away in value or resales will start to lag. It all depends on other economic conditions of course.
The time to sell is quite likely, right now.
Musings on the state of the market with tips, information and a little fun.
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