On April 20, the Asheville Home Builders Association (AHBA) hosted a special Housing & Economic Outlook event for its members, local businesses and community leaders. Keynote Speaker, NAHB’s Chief Economist Robert Dietz, Ph.D. provided valuable insight on the forecast for our local economy and what is on the horizon for Asheville’s home building market.
Detailing local and national data, Dietz discussed the current macroeconomic environment and explained why supply-side constraints are limiting homebuilding growth. These constraints include current market data on labor shortage, lot availability, AD&C lending conditions, and recent gains in lumber prices. Dietz also proved why demographics should produce significant residential construction growth in the years ahead and provided estimates of the local economic impact of home building on jobs and tax revenue.
In preparation for this event, the AHBA worked with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) to conduct a detailed local economic impact study. This study looks at the impact of the construction industry in three phases: the construction phase; the ripple effect; and the occupancy phase.
In the construction phase, the estimated one-year metro area impact of building 100 single-family homes in Asheville MSA, consisting of four counties (Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson and Madison), generates $18.6 million in local income, $1.6 million in taxes and other revenue for local governments and 292 local jobs.
“This new report is another example how significant of an impact our members’ businesses have on Asheville’s economy” said AHBA Executive Officer, Christi Stokes. “These figures are important for our industry to continue to pursue policies that promote economic development and housing growth while monitoring regulations that make housing available and affordable for our community.”
And the benefits don’t stop there. The annual recurring impacts of building 100 single-family homes in Asheville include $3.7 million in local income, $835,000 in taxes and other revenue for local governments and 72 local jobs. These are ongoing annual local impacts from new homes becoming occupied and the occupants paying taxes and participating in the local economy year after year.
Since the model was initially developed in 1996, NAHB has used it successfully to estimate the impacts of construction in over 800 projects, local jurisdictions, metropolitan areas, non-metropolitan counties, and states across the country.
CLICK HERE for more photos from the April 20th Housing & Economic Outlook Event. A special thanks to Table Top Sponsors: ActionCOACH, Cox Industries, In., Entegra Bank and Trane. Attendee Bags provided by Builders FirstSource. Click Here for the Full Event Presentation
The Asheville Home Builders Association is a non-profit professional trade organization providing an educated voice and promoting excellence within the building industry. The AHBA is the 4th largest HBA in North Carolina made up of 675 professionals representing over 550 local businesses. Members of the AHBA include builders, remodelers, developers, suppliers, subcontractors, bankers, mortgage consultants, landscapers, engineers and the many other supporting organizations and businesses affiliated with the building industry.
