By Dennis Sweeney, Executive Vice President, HBA of Rockford
Back in the 50’s, the canopy of stately elm trees covering many of Rockford’s main streets resembled the barrel-vaulted ceilings of a cathedral, and Rockford was known as “The Forest City.” Along came the Dutch elm tree disease, and those stately elm trees have disappeared.
Next came the emerald ash borer, and many local golf courses have temporarily taken on more of a links course look than the traditional Midwest appearance following the removal of the diseased ash trees.
“The Forest City” forest has been decimated.
“At the Top in Illinois” was another slogan for Rockford. It was an acknowledgement of its geographical location in the state, as well as the highest concentration of manufacturing jobs per capita in the state, before housing affordability became a ranking priority.
Given the Rockford market’s current notoriety as the fifth-best market in the nation for move-in buyers to immediately buy a house, and that we’re located in Illinois, the state with the fifth-highest out-migration in the nation, Rockford should have a new nickname: “The Affordable City.”
Two home building giants, Taylor and Lennar, have announced that they are going to build 1 million starter homes to get first-time home buyers into the market. Before anyone has seen their subdivision plans and density, floor plans, allowances list, special financing plans, price points, etc., the “Yes, buts…” have already begun.
The concern is that it will deflate the local existing home market with new homes that are less expensive and more attractive to own. But not without adapting new technology, in my opinion. Their purchasing power and mass production of identical units, with their own employees, will produce economies of scale in their production schedule, and time is money.
But these companies still need to make money. With the run-up in material costs and labor costs over the past five years, they will be hard-pressed to stick build a new house with the lot size, the living area, and the amenities that a first-time home buyer who has been priced out of the market expects in a new house and can afford to buy.
There is a technology available that hasn’t been widely used yet that might provide enough cost savings to get close to the price point needed. That is the printer technology used to “frame” new homes with robot machines pouring liquid walls, serviced by one or two technicians monitoring the machine pour. Chemists instead of framers.
These million homes could be the experimental laboratory.