Highway 431 Blog

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Home Construction In Madison County ::

I have been following the sub-prime mortgage fiasco and the effects of the lending collapse nationwide for some time and I'm curious about several things regarding the local housing economy.

Each day I drive by several relatively large developments: some well under construction and others just beginning. These are in south Huntsville. Every few weeks I drive up Martin Road from Redstone Arsenal into Madison and there are several very large developments going in there. Meridianville, the Hampton Cove area, and Gurley are also experiencing rapid growth. I just can't see the influx of BRAC employees justifying this housing boom and I'm wondering just how long this is sustainable. Even down in New Hope, where I live, there are several smaller housing developments going in.

I also wonder how many of these new homes are "spec homes", or those built with the hopes that someone will buy just before or after they're finished. Before his death my stepfather was a building contractor. At times we would build a spec house, but most of what we did was contracting for an individual. This was, of course, many years ago and these days the building industry is dominated by large companies who have learned the benefits of scale. I have a feeling that Madison County is about to be hit hard by the housing bust.

Around New Year I was talking with a friend who paints and hangs wallpaper and she is beginning to see a downturn or, at least, a slowdown already. Most foreclosure sales are listed in the Huntsville Times and I glance over them occasionally. I noticed that this past Wednesday there were 2 smaller local builders with several foreclosures listed. This doesn't bode well for the local housing industry!

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