New Home Construction Slump

By Pat Peterson Reporter

Published: Tue, February 12, 2008 - 5:30 pm Last Updated: Tue, February 12, 2008 - 6:08 pm

Pat Peterson

Real estate developers and contractors have gobbled up huge chunks of land in Baldwin County, hoping to "cash in" on undeveloped pastures and pine forests. But a nationwide slow down in the housing market, including new home construction, has put some homebuilders in the red.

"It's difficult," says Suzette LaBonte with Benchmark Homes. "We're down at least 30 percent from what we were this time last year, but we're doing what we can. We're actually offering lower-priced homes and special incentives to help jump-start the slow housing market."

Business has slowed to a crawl at the Baldwin County Inspection Office. Home Inspector Michael Howell says two years ago, he was inspecting six or seven houses a day. Now, Howell says he's lucky if he gets that many calls in a week.

"We definitely need the revenue," says Howell. "We like to see growth like anybody else. I think this is just a low point, I don't think it'll be like this forever."

Home builders aren't the only ones struggling. News 5 spoke to several plumbers, cabinet installers and electricians who work with builders and they say they're having to layoff workers because of the struggling housing market.

Empty subdivisions, streets that lead to nowhere, and quiet construction sites are common here, signs of an unhealthy and unstable new housing market.