ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 20, 1997 TAG: 9704220113
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALAN J. HEAVENS KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Materials being used in houses today are much better than those at the beginning of the century, but the craftsmanship isn't, experts say.
Although the forecast is that 100,000 fewer houses will be built this year, the men and women who build them are upbeat about 1997, according to a survey of members of the National Association of Home Builders.
The 591 builders queried at the NAHB's annual convention in Houston earlier this year said they expected housing starts to decline slightly and home sales to be about level with 1996.
This is consistent with the NAHB's forecast of a drop in home starts from 1.45 million to 1.35 million, and a decline in new-home sales to 658,000 from 749,000 in 1997.
``This decline is understandable, given that 1996 was the best year for housing in eight years and that an adjustment is likely,'' said Ken Colton, NAHB executive vice president.
One of the most significant problems builders believe they'll face this year is the availability and cost of skilled labor. At seminar after seminar in Houston, the complaint was the same: There's plenty of labor, but there's not enough top-notch labor, especially framers and bricklayers.
At one seminar on the future of housing, participants noted that while the materials being used in houses are much better than they were at the beginning of the century, the craftsmanship is not.
``Crafts aren't being passed down from generation to generation,'' said J. Carson Looney, an architect from Memphis, Tenn. ``What is so wrong with being a third-generation framer?''
So builders battle for a limited supply of top-of-the-line subcontractors and pay a hefty price for what they get. The typical annual wage of labor involved in building a single-family house is $30,637, according to the NAHB. As the costs increase, they are passed on to consumers.
Still, the per-house profit margin for most of the nation's home builders has fallen from 5 percent to 3 percent, according to the NAHB. With the kind of competition there is, many builders find it easier to swallow increased costs for a while to stay in business.
Another major concern is the supply and cost of lumber, the chief ingredient of houses in most areas of the country. A 2,000-square-foot home needs 16,000 board-feet of framing lumber, which, on Dec. 6, 1996, cost $399 per 1,000 board-feet, according to Random Lengths, a trade publication. In 1992, it cost $287 per 1,000 board-feet.
The combined cost of framing lumber and structural panels, such as plywood, in a 2,000-square-foot house is about $10,000. The NAHB contends that the increase in lumber costs has added $2,000 to the cost of the typical house since the '90s began.
Much of that increase has come in the past year, when the United States and Canada agreed to limit the amount of lumber Canada could export here, the NAHB said.
The lumber issue isn't as simple as a single trade agreement, of course, but it is symptomatic of the problem.
Alternative building materials such as steel, engineered wood and concrete block are being introduced to compensate for higher lumber prices. Still, only 10 percent of the NAHB's 190,000 members use steel for framing load-bearing walls and just 12 percent use blocks for the same purpose.
The chief reason given at the convention was the shortage of skilled labor. If there aren't enough wood framers to go around, odds are that the shortage of steel framers is much more severe.
Most carpenters in the 1920s and 1930s were capable of installing metal ceilings. When these ceilings went out of fashion before World War II, installation became a lost art. When there was a resurgence of interest in the 1980s, installation had become primarily a do-it-yourself project.
A number of builders and related businesses are trying to level the playing field by getting involved in programs to train a new generation of skilled labor, such as the NAHB's Industry-Education Alliance and the Jobs Corps.
For example, the alliance and the Home Builders Association of Richmond, Va., last year cooperated in building a home designed for the working woman. Apprentices worked side by side with skilled subcontractors and made the step to journeyman.
An entry-level bricklayer in the Philadelphia area can earn about $20 an hour, while a skilled one can command an hourly rate in excess of $30, Census Bureau data show.
Another concern expressed at the convention was the cost and availability of developed lots, which also might significantly figure into housing-price increases in 1997.
Most builders buy raw land and then develop the land into building sites. Builders surveyed said local jurisdictions are increasingly shifting the burden of providing new infrastructure to developers, and are increasing fees for permits.
``This drives up the cost of a developed lot, and a new home, making homeownership even more difficult to achieve for many people,'' Colton said.
More than three-quarters of the builders surveyed said high home prices were a major stumbling block to first-time buyers.
And that, they said, goes against the most cherished of American dreams.
X X X
(c) 1997, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
AP-NY-02-10-97 0706E |By ALAN J. HEAVENS| | KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS|
Although the forecast is that 100,000 fewer houses will be built this year, the men and women who build them are upbeat about 1997, according to a survey of members of the National Association of Home Builders.
The 591 builders queried at the NAHB's annual convention in Houston late last month said they expected housing starts to decline slightly and home sales to be about level with 1996.
This is consistent with the NAHB's forecast of a drop in home starts from 1.45 million to 1.35 million, and a decline in new-home sales to 658,000 from 749,000 in 1997.
``This decline is understandable, given that 1996 was the best year for housing in eight years and that an adjustment is likely,'' said Ken Colton, NAHB executive vice president.
One of the most significant problems builders believe they'll face this year is the availability and cost of skilled labor. At seminar after seminar in Houston, the complaint was the same: There's plenty of labor, but there's not enough top-notch labor, especially framers and bricklayers.
At one seminar on the future of housing, participants noted that while the materials being used in houses are much better than they were at the beginning of the century, the craftsmanship is not.
``Crafts aren't being passed down from generation to generation,'' said J. Carson Looney, an architect from Memphis, Tenn. ``What is so wrong with being a third-generation framer?''
So builders battle for a limited supply of top-of-the-line subcontractors and pay a hefty price for what they get. The typical annual wage of labor involved in building a single-family house is $30,637, according to the NAHB. As the costs increase, they are passed on to consumers.
Still, the per-house profit margin for most of the nation's home builders has fallen from 5 percent to 3 percent, according to the NAHB. With the kind of competition there is, many builders find it easier to swallow increased costs for a while to stay in business.
Another major concern is the supply and cost of lumber, the chief ingredient of houses in most areas of the country. A 2,000-square-foot home needs 16,000 board-feet of framing lumber, which, on Dec. 6, 1996, cost $399 per 1,000 board-feet, according to Random Lengths, a trade publication. In 1992, it cost $287 per 1,000 board-feet.
The combined cost of framing lumber and structural panels, such as plywood, in a 2,000-square-foot house is about $10,000. The NAHB contends that the increase in lumber costs has added $2,000 to the cost of the typical house since the '90s began.
Much of that increase has come in the last year, when the United States and Canada agreed to limit the amount of lumber Canada could export here, the NAHB said.
The lumber issue isn't as simple as a single trade agreement, of course, but it is symptomatic of the problem.
Alternative building materials such as steel, engineered wood and concrete block are being introduced to compensate for higher lumber prices. Still, only 10 percent of the NAHB's 190,000 members use steel for framing load-bearing walls and just 12 percent use blocks for the same purpose.
The chief reason given at the convention was the shortage of skilled labor. If there aren't enough wood framers to go around, odds are that the shortage of steel framers is much more severe.
Most carpenters in the 1920s and 1930s were capable of installing metal ceilings. When these ceilings went out of fashion before World War II, installation became a lost art. When there was a resurgence of interest in the 1980s, installation had become primarily a do-it-yourself project.
A number of builders and related businesses are trying to level the playing field by getting involved in programs to train a new generation of skilled labor, such as the NAHB's Industry-Education Alliance and the Jobs Corps.
For example, the alliance and the Home Builders Association of Richmond, Va., last year cooperated in building a home designed for the working woman. Apprentices worked side by side with skilled subcontractors and made the step to journeyman.
An entry-level bricklayer in the Philadelphia area can earn about $20 an hour, while a skilled one can command an hourly rate in excess of $30, Census Bureau data show.
Another concern expressed at the convention was the cost and availability of developed lots, which also might significantly figure into housing-price increases in 1997.
Most builders buy raw land and then develop the land into building sites. Builders surveyed said local jurisdictions are increasingly shifting the burden of providing new infrastructure to developers, and are increasing fees for permits.
``This drives up the cost of a developed lot, and a new home, making homeownership even more difficult to achieve for many people,'' Colton said.
More than three-quarters of the builders surveyed said high home prices were a major stumbling block to first-time buyers.
And that, they said, goes against the most cherished of American dreams.
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