Published: July 24, 2007 10:05 am         

Housing construction climbs out of wet June

EDMOND — This summer’s ongoing rains have caused headaches for Edmond-area home builders and owners, with delays of up to three months in new home construction.

Jeff Click, vice president and secretary/treasurer of the Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association, has been an Edmond-based home builder for nine years. He said he’s never seen weather-related problems like this year’s.

“In most cases, three months of progress has been affected and delayed,” Click said. “I believe we had 12 straight weeks of rainy weather, and we’re not just affected by the rain; we have to wait for the ground to dry out after it rains, too. There’s just not enough relief (between rains) for significant job site progress.”

Residential building permits in Edmond were down to 19 in June, compared to 64 in the same month last year. Ed Steiner, director of building services for the City of Edmond, said the drop is due to the rainy weather.

“Inspections (by my department) have been affected to some degree, but they haven’t been hurt nearly as much as the permits,” he said. “When it’s nasty weather, people just aren’t thinking warm, sunny thoughts about building a house.”

So far in 2007, 232 residential building permits have been issued, compared to 362 during the same period last year.

This was the wettest June on record since 1907, according to the Oklahoma Climatological Survey. The average rainfall in Central Oklahoma was 12.34 inches during June, which is nearly triple the normal average of 4.26 inches. May saw 8.92 inches of rain.

One of the most difficult aspects of the building slow-down, Click said, is the effect on laborers who depend on daily work to pay their families’ bills.

“That’s one of the most difficult things for me, as a builder, to watch happen — these people depend on their paychecks, and when it’s raining like this, they can’t work.”

Click said the effect on home inventory in the metro area remains to be seen. It’s also too early to know whether the delay in building during the summer months will affect the 2007 total of homes built and sold.

“Different builders count sales differently,” he said. “If you count totals based on closings, it will definitely affect our totals.”

Builders and homeowners both suffer from the lost time, he said.

“The biggest component (for the builder) is the carrying cost — the interest on the construction note to the bank,” he said. “The lost time certainly affects client relationships, too. We have to work through the frustrations with them.”

Although homeowners realize the inclement weather isn’t the builders’ fault, it’s difficult for them to see their home building slowed — and time lost is money lost for everyone involved.

“All the understanding in the world doesn’t solve the problems,” Click said. “This is a stressful process for many, many buyers, and this just magnifies the stress.”



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