US Home Construction Moving Forward

The Sacramento Bee article highlights some of the upticks that are occurring in the new home construction market. First, and interesting pickup by Lewis Homes in Reno, NV.

A Lewis venture - Lewis Investment Co. of Nevada - paid $6.6 million for lots that fell into bankruptcy court after the original developer, affiliated with CalPERS, invested more than an estimated $20 million readying them for homes. . . . .CalPERS lost nearly $1 billion on its investment in the partnership, which filed for bankruptcy in June 2008.

This seems to be a case of smart money coming in after thing have blown up and picking up good assets for pennies on the dollar. The 800 lot parcel will take 5 years to build out and sell.

Another interesting quote for a California homebuilder:

Multiple offers have spread now to vacant land for new homes, said Mark Rowson, Northern California president for Agoura-based Warmington Homes. He said, “A year ago nobody was talking. Now, there is movement.

An increase in construction activity will go a long way to stabilizing the employment market. There continue to be more signs that housing, both existing and new construction are starting to recover in California. Historically, builders in California build and average of about 150k new homes per year. This year they are on pace to build about 30,000. There is a lot of room for upside growth. If buyers and homeowners start to believe things are turning positive again, prices will start to increase in spite of the overhang of foreclosure properties.

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