This week I was shocked to learn about many concerned customers who have paid deposits to project builders. They are now caught in the unfortunate position of waiting to see if they will qualify for the government grants. While we predicted this months ago, along with a mini upturn in the local real estate market, it is disappointing.
While its inevitable some will always bite of more than they can chew. Consumers are effectively caught in the crossfire. Waiting for a price rise on the build, with no control over if they will get the grants.This is nothing new when it comes to the WA building industry. An increase in activity generally leads to sharp increases in pricing due to the process of buying and building a new home.
While it's easy to blame management for antiquated processes and lack of planning it also posses a bigger question. Is the lack of creativity and innovation affecting our ability to provide affordable products and services to the new home market?
Why do we have little or no choice in the WA market?
This two storey example demonstrates there are solutions.
24 hour contracts
30 days to site
3 days to lock up
10-15 week build times
Some of these homes sold in the first days of the grant would be ready for PCI handover, right now!!!
In theory a builder could be close to finishing his second round of homes before the contract deadline even starts.
Projects like this one that were introduced and abandoned without any understanding of the long term benefits could provide a solution one day.
This is no consolation for the stream of first home buyers waiting for contracts at the moment. With many worried about how much their house will cost, if they will get their grant or, when their home will start it must be stressful.
This latest mini spike in the market poses a number of questions about the industry's ability to deal with increased demand. There is no doubt that those of us in the property sector benefit from this status quo but its hard not to have empathy for consumers.
Considering a strong WA economy with workers living and spending dollars locally is going to result in increased building activity this is a real concern. It seems we need to look at the bigger picture on how to create more effective solutions to maintaining housing affordability in a strong WA economy.
On the positive side, while there are so many ways to make expensive mistakes, there is more ways for us to help you. If you are looking to build, sell, or subdivide. Call us to achieve your property success today.
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