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Home Builders Wonder: Will They Come?
With housing sales down and inventory up, a thinner crowd attends the International Builders Show in Orlando.
(By Gary Bogdon For The Washington Post)
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Clark Wilson, chief executive of Green Builders of Austin, which started up last year, also said he is doing just fine.
He said that the inventory of new homes for sale in Austin has remained low and that the appetite for green homes in Texas is no longer limited to celebrities.
"We're definitely an anomaly" compared with other builders around the country, he said. "We're in a fresh market with a fresh concept."
He admits, though, that other builders he has talked with here are "pretty down."
"Some of these guys think the good days are behind them," he said.
Some exhibitors noted that while attendance is down this year, builders are searching out unusual products to help them stand out.
"While the volume has been down, the quality of people has been excellent," said exhibitor Jason Caulk, director of product and data management for Masonite, a Tampa company that manufactures doors. "There's a better concentration of the right people. The right builders are here looking to differentiate themselves; they're looking to stand out in the market that's down."
Richmond builder Jones, whose company works in five states, said he remains cautiously optimistic, though he is concerned about just when things will turn around.
"I guess last year people were saying things would get better in the first quarter [of 2008], then they said things would get better about mid-year, and now they're saying the end of the year."
He said, "Let's hope it doesn't go any further out than that."
