Americas Home Place- Virginia Custom Home Builders

NEWS:

Economic Picture in Virginia Suggests There Are MANY Reasons to Build your New Custom Dream Home Now

Economists Declare the Worst of Virginia’s Homebuilding Slump Has Passed

Americas Home Place a major builder of “on-your-lot” custom homes in Virginia wants residents to feel confident that now is a great time to build their custom dream homes.

"Many people who are in a position to build new custom homes have held back recently," says a spokesperson for America’s Home Place. "We call it ‘Media Fatigue Syndrome’. You’ve got cable news networks parroting grim reports on the ‘housing crisis in America’ every hour on the hour. After a while, even people who should feel confident about building their new home become reticent."

Indeed, the facts tell a compelling story that should give Virginians confidence to move forward and build their dream homes. Trends and government statistics in Virginia back up the claim. A recent report by Bill Freehling of The Fredericksburg News is on example.

In an address to Fredericksburg-area builders in March, the chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, David Crowe, addressed builders, saying, "We've passed the worst of the worst housing recession in decades."

While Crowe said no one should expect the market for new home construction to rebound quickly or get back to mid-2000 levels soon, he alluded to many positives that would-be builders of new custom homes should consider. These include:

Less competition from builders that have gone out of business. This might seem like a negative, but an economic downturn has a way of winnowing out less professional builders, leaving a pool of more qualified builders with better reputations.

Employment gains. While many states and areas continue to suffer high unemployment rates, Virginia is not one of them, with unemployment rates well below the historically high and unsettling national averages that are reported daily.

Declines in distressed mortgages. The percentage of distressed mortgages in the Southeast declined in June 2011 on a year-over-year basis, according to a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. This trend continues to hold for 2012.

Improved consumer and business confidence.  In February 2012, the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index released data showing consumer confidence at a 12-month high of 70.8, a dramatic increase of the 40.9 low reported in October 2011.

Crowe said most indications show that the market is improving. Though far from where it was during the boom, he said, builder confidence has risen. Evidence also includes an increase in new building permits and home starts. Crowe expressed confidence that new home construction momentum will continue to speed up in 2012 and accelerate into 2013.

Supporting the concept of Media Fatigue Syndrome, where would-be home buyers and those desiring to build custom homes on their land are unreasonably influenced by crisis-themed national media reports, Crowe emphasized that new home construction markets should be evaluated individually.

For example, national news reports focusing on foreclosures make the problem sound widespread and homogeneous when, in fact, the worst of the foreclosure problem centers on a few states, most notably, Florida, California, Arizona and Nevada. Conditions in these states receive a lot of press attention, eclipsing the positive signs of improvement in states like Virginia.

In fact, Crowe said, Virginia new home construction is faring better than most of the nation. He tied this to Virginia’s strong employment picture.

Virginia’s own state departmental statistics bear this out. According to a report from Ann D. Lang, Senior Economist with Virginia’s Economic Information Services Division, Virginia’s unemployment rate decreased 0.3 percent in January to 5.8 percent, well below the national average.

Americas Home Place, which builds extensively in Virginia wants to get the word out to reluctant home buyers and those wishing to build new homes on their land that the media reports of troubled times, while certainly affecting specific areas, do not hold true for every state and locality. Americas Home Place reminds its prospects that an improving economy, record low interest rates, more reputable, motivated builders and solid employment figures in states like Virginia and elsewhere, make this an excellent time to build the custom dream homes.

About Americas Home Place In Virginia

Americas Home Place currently builds new custom homes in 56 of Virginia’s 95 counties. 

Located midway between New York and Virginia, Virginia is the gateway to the South. It is also sometimes classified in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Commonwealth is bordered by Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, and Maryland to the north; the Atlantic Ocean to the east; North Carolina and Tennessee to the south; and West Virginia and Kentucky to the west.  

Americas Home Place has been building custom homes in Virginia almost since its inception in 1972. Americas Home Place has a fully staffed building center in Fredericksburg, Virginia.