REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Fla.: Tampa Builders Face High Demand

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Daily Real Estate News | June 10, 2005 | Fla.: Tampa Builders Face High Demand It would seem like having lots of customers is the kind of problem any business would welcome, but in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, it’s becoming a challenge for developers and homebuilders. These businesses are struggling with a lack of land, slow permitting processes, and high demand for new homes. "The builders are running at about 110 miles per hour right now, trying to keep up," says Joe Narkiewicz, executive vice president for the Tampa Bay Builders Association. According to Narkiewicz, the heart of the problem is the region's lengthy raw land permitting process, which has limited the number of lots available to build on. A builder can finish a home in 90 days, Narkiewicz says, but by the time permitting is finished, completion time could be more like six months. "We're about out of lots right now," Narkiewicz says. Compounding the problem are rising prices of cement, concrete, and lumber products and a lack of skilled labor to help put the houses up. There seems to be no relief in sight. According to the latest report from Metrostudy's Tampa division, the market ended the first 90 days of 2005 with a record number of housing starts (5,380). Housing activity in Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Pasco counties increased 10.5 percent. Including Hernando and Citrus counties, the full market increased activity by 15.9 percent. “The backlog of homes under construction right now is 9,625 units, the largest in history,” says Tony Polito, director of Metrostudy's Tampa division. —By Bridget McCrea for REALTOR® Magazine Online