Some Local Builders Reflect National Housing Numbers…Others Don't

MORRIS PLAINS, N.J. - Aug. 16, 2016 - PRLog -- A quick check with builders and remodelers across the six Northern New Jersey counties represented by the Metropolitan Builders & Contractors Association of New Jersey (Metro) (http://www.metrobca.org/) finds that many of them reflect optimistic housing numbers coming out this week. But some don't.

The U.S. Census Bureau today said housing starts for July rose 2.1 percent from June. On Monday, The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo Bank said builder confidence in the market for newly constructed single-family homes in August rose two points from July.

The local chapter of NAHB, Metro (http://www.metrobca.org) asked its members if they were building more or fewer houses than they were a year ago or a month ago. Those who responded split evenly between those who were building more and those building less. A couple of successful builders pointed out that in the densely populated counties of North Jersey, a lot of the "building" is actually renovating existing homes.

Builders agreed that land constraints, tough financing, harsh regulations and uncertainty are continuing to choke the industry in New Jersey, depriving people of homes.

"Many townships are sitting on their hands until the final affordable housing rulings are issued," said Zac Csik of American Properties Realty. "It is making it difficult to move projects forward."

Csik is among those who say they are building more. But he adds that his company had expected to have additional projects "off the ground" by now.

Philip Calinda, of Millennium Custom Homes LLC, says he's building more but he has to move very cautiously.

"If a deal makes sense, you do it," he says. "It's about the numbers. Pricing is pretty flat, but our costs are going up. The deal I just struck will work in a good or bad market."

On the other hand, Bob Mazzola, of Atrium Development Co., says he's building the same number of homes this month as last: zero. He says good lots are hard to find and current banking practices make them too restrictive for the builder and the consumer. Other builders are finding that they've chosen to work in a market that isn't recovering as well as others. Philip Deacon, of Deacon Homes, says his area of Sussex County "is deplorable." He has chosen to sit on several approved and improved lots.

Meanwhile, some builders are finding lots of work without looking for new land. John Barba, of Barba Builders, is very busy doing renovation and remodeling work.

"There just isn't enough demand to support the housing industry that existed five to 10 years ago," he says. "Yet the housing stock just gets older and older. That's a lot of roofs to replace, baths to remodel and so on." He points out that nationally, homeowners are on pace to spend more than $215 billion on remodeling this year -- $73 billion on projects that cost more than $5,000 per project and the remainder on smaller projects.

Longer term, builders say the entitlement process, which continues to get more complicated, adds years and dollars to the home-building process, and makes new homes harder to build and more expensive to buy.

While the approval process has long made New Jersey a nightmare for homebuilders, the current uncertainties over affordable housing, tight credit and consumer concerns continue to make homebuilding in New Jersey a mixed bag full of challenges. And those challenges continue to make New Jersey homes expensive.

Metropolitan Builders and Contractors Association (http://metrobca.org) of New Jersey is affiliated with the New Jersey Builders Association and the National Association of Homebuilders. The organization, which has about 300 members in Essex, Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Union and Warren counties, represents those involved with home building. The organization's goal is to create an environment in which its members can provide safe, quality housing for everyone.