John Rebchook is a former Rocky Mountain News reporter with more than 30 years of experience in writing and communications... Yesterday, I wrote a blog detailing how home building in the Denver-area is at the lowest point on record.
At the time, I asked Roger Reinhardt, the executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver, if the home building market in the metro area is finally at the bottom.
"Last week, we had a design review forum at Inverness, and that was the No. 1 question I received," Reinhardt told me. "I told them, "Yes, I was prepared to call the bottom."
That is the good news, he said.
“The bad news, is how long will be at the bottom?”
Nationally, experts are speculating that new home building activity could jump as much as 60 percent from these low levels, which not only are hammering Denver, but the entire country.
“Nobody knows for sure what is going to happen,” Reinhardt said, noting that his organization has seen its membership fall to 600 members from about 1,400, a sign of the health of the industry.
“Certainly, the extension of the tax credit is a lifeline,” Reinhardt continued.
And he said that is not just people in the industry who should keep their fingers crossed that a recovery is in the not-too-distant future.
“When you look at the trickle down effect from new building, and related trades and industries, and the jobs created by the home building industry, it is huge,” Reinhardt said. “This Great Recession in home building is a real debilitating economic factor for the economy overall.”
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.
