Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Permits at a 4-Year Low in Lee County

From the Southwest Florida News-Press, it appears the building boom has slowed significantly.

'The slide in Lee County's home-building industry continued in November as the number of permits for single-family homes fell to levels not seen in almost four years.

Builders in Cape Coral pulled 152 permits, the fewest since 81 in December 2002. In unincorporated Lee County, which includes Bonita Springs and Fort Myers Beach, 357 permits were issued — the fewest since 299 in March 2003, according to figures released Monday.'

Have they (like the rest of Florida)(and the United States) overbuilt?

'They're pretty much in a situation of just waiting because there's so much inventory, and you don't want to add inventory" with almost 14,000 existing homes already on the market, he said.

That situation won't change until the inventory of houses starts to shrink, he said.

"They don't want to add more fuel to the fire," Timmerman said.'

And now a story about a guy who's now going to travel 90 miles to live in an affordable house in Lehigh. 90 miles round trip to Naples?!!! That is so sad.

(note: I once had a 77-mile one way commute for 2 years - it was misery, squared)

'About 77 percent of the single-family home permits were for work in Lehigh Acres, valued at about $63.4 million. That's up from October's 74 percent.

The market has stayed relatively strong in Lehigh Acres because prices there are still the lowest in the county, said John McWilliams, a real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Preferred Properties.

"Lehigh still remains the last bastion of affordability," McWilliams said.

Even in Lehigh, he said, "builders are seeking ways to tweak their home/lot packages below $200,000 because they know that's what has to happen for their building careers to continue."

Jack Bowles, 57, and his wife, Ranae, recently closed a deal with America's First Homes on a three-bedroom, two-bath house in Lehigh for $240,000. They'll move from Naples, where he works at Home Depot and they were renting a house.

Bowles said he probably got twice the home for his money than in Collier County. "In Naples, I wasn't able to buy a home for less than about $300,000 or $350,000," he said. "We spent a whole lot less than that and got a brand new home with a whole lot of amenities."

Now, he said, he has a 90-mile commute but the lower price for his house will more than offset higher gas prices.'

Full Article

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I challenge someone to find ANY non-rural county in Florida where permits have increased in the last 6 months.

I want to know what all those construction workers are doing this year.

Anonymous said...

This guy, Jack Bowles, WORKS AT HOME DUMPO, and drives 180 miles a day, to work there!!!!!

WWOOOOWWWWW!!!! I'm really impressed....

Quick calculation:
50K/mi/ yr divided 20 mpg = 2500 gal x $2.50/gal = $6250/ yr gas....+ tires, oil, ware & tear....
$10-12,000/ yr commuting expense, without considering the time involved....

In order to cover the $12K expense, he has to earn $15,000...

Seems to me, he should be able to get a job at a different HD store, and NOT travel as far....

I think the guy was playing Left Out Field, when they passed on brains....

Anonymous said...

Rhe real esatte workers must be in for a grinch of a christmas.

Anonymous said...

I checked the map: it's 90 miles round-trip. Still, that's ridiculous in Florida. And for a job at "Home Dumpo"!

Anonymous said...

Listen Up Here!!!

"IF" they stopped building houses completely for a year or two, it wouldn't make a tinkers damn, to the markets....THERE ARE SO MANY...

SAME THING WITH CARS....."IF" detroit shut down completely, there are enough cars floating to carry thru for at least one year or many more.....

Cheap money has created such an over supply of everything, that there is nothing much else to do BUT, >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> COLLAPSE <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Anonymous said...

WHY NEARLY EVERYBODY GETS IT WRONG!!!!

Many years ago, one of the car manufacturing companies, used to advertise: ""Ask a man that owns one""

WELL!!!! Ask some one who owns a house what his expenses are...
Mortgage 5%, Taxes 2.5%, Insurance 1-2%, Electric +$100/mo, etc, etc YADA, YADA, YADA....

Then it's NO exageration to say it costs 10% of the value to own one......

The big question is, how many of these houses are sitting empty, and "IF" the costs are in fact anywhere near 10%, who's going to be paying these costs......

>>>>>THROWING MONEY INTO A BLACK HOLE<<<<<<

Consider in aggregate, all the 'flippers' throwing money into this black hole, and you quickly see it's just a drag on our economy.....

The ultimate comeuppance, is when the flipper finds out, that you can build the same house """ NOW "" next door to him for 30-40% less....

HE'LL FLIP HIS LID....

Anonymous said...

I agree - if you bought a new house in the past 2 years and (God forbid!) you have to sell now, you are totally screwed, because you are competing against other new homes, as well as the builders' ability to lower their prices (and add amenities) and still make a profit.

Lots of empty houses in this state - won't somebody please move here and help the greedy?

Anonymous said...

Don't you know Super, they will come! After the long, hard winter up north, they will come and save our state! On second thought, we should be fine since 1,000 people a day move here.