Glory halleluiah!
For the first time yesterday, I heard a builder utter the words I’ve been waiting on for the past four and a half years. It’s a phrase that contractors have mostly invited but also feared a little: “Things have picked up so much here that we’re having a hard time keeping up.”
I know I said it already, but I think it’s warranted one more time:
Glory halleluiah!
I know, I know. We’re all wise to be “cautiously optimistic.” After all, the last couple years had hopeful starts then flattened out suddenly and quickly mid-summer. Plus, unemployment numbers are still troubling. And, of course, we’re at the mercy of Mother Nature.
In a story that should be hitting your porch any day now, distributors shared that optimism -- and that caution. It’s hard not to rejoice at headlines like, “New Home Construction in March Surges to Highest Level in 7 Years,” (U.S. News and World Report), but this indicator may not have as much impact as we’d like, as PoolCorp’s Manuel Perez de la Mesa told me for my April 26 article.
The real impact will be in the recovery of single-family home values, and while we began to see some recovery in those values in the second half of 2012, that pattern has to be sustained for a bit longer before it begins to really affect consumer behavior in a significant way,” he said.
But let us have this celebration, even if just for a few minutes, before we take out the rose-colored lenses and replace them with clear.
What are you seeing in your area? How are you adapting?
