Feb 11 2008 1:00PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (1) |
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To test the theory that housing location is more important than ever before, as the cost of gas continues to go up, I called Tim Hernandez and Kevin Rickard, principals of South Florida-based New Urban Communities, an infill builder with six projects in Palm Beach County and one in Boward County. They told me there is light in the tunnel. "We sold eight houses in January and three in the first week of February this year, at an average price of $300,000," said Hernandez, "compared to zero sales in both months a year ago." He said traffic was also way up. "We counted 172 traffic units in January this year, in seven projects, compared to 77 units, in nine projects, in January of 2007."
     It's nothing like 2005, Rickard said, when New Urban "once sold 100 homes in a single day. We had people standing in line to write us a check." But right now, any positive sign in South Florida is a revelation. Palm Beach County was ground zero for the investor-driven feeding frenzy in 2005. New Urban's business model stresses small Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) infill projects, near shopping, restaurants and employment centers. If commuting costs really are a concern, this is one company that should benefit. Right now, Hernandez and Rickard are kicking themselves that they have no spec inventory. "We've only got nine specs," Rickard said. "A year ago, we had more than 170."
     It has to be a positive sign for 2008 when a builder in spec-ridden South Florida laments a shortage of spec homes.