You want to start a beautiful new home construction project, but from what you’ve seen on the news about supply issues and shortages, you think now might not be the best time, and you'd better tolerate whatever isn't working about your current home.
No one would blame you for that assumption, but it’s not necessarily true! To know whether or not now is the time to begin construction on your dream home, you need to understand what’s happening in the home-building industry, what’s causing it, and how it could impact your project.
That’s where PAXISgroup comes in. We’ve discussed everything you need to know about the state of the custom home-building industry in 2024 and home-building trends. After we dive in, download our complimentary home-building guide for more information on the custom home-building process, or maybe check out our blog dedicated to construction timelines!
Over the past several years, there have been shortages of everything from groceries to cars to electronics. For homeowners and builders, construction materials, appliances, and labor shortages have resulted in construction supply chain issues like shipping delays and bottlenecks.
In addition, many construction materials have been discontinued, some without notification. Speaking from personal experience, this makes designing and pre-purchasing materials a real challenge. Even when we can find materials, lead times can be much longer, delaying the project's start and leading to increased material costs or a change in the sequencing of how your project is built.
Fortunately, according to the 2024 Construction Economic Forecast released by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), the outlook for residential construction – including Georgia new construction homes – remains optimistic for the foreseeable future. The report suggests that the demand for new housing will continue to grow due to factors such as population growth, interest rates, and favorable demographic trends.
In addition, ongoing supply chain disruptions and rising construction materials costs have led many homeowners to invest in home renovation and remodeling projects, further driving the demand for construction services in the residential sector. Essentially, despite some challenges posed by labor shortages and supply chain issues, home builder trends indicate that the residential construction industry will continue to grow steadily in the coming years.
The NKBA (National Kitchen and Bath Association) Market Outlook Report also indicates that building a custom home could become more expensive due to inflationary pressures on construction materials and labor costs.
However, the report notes that demand for custom homes remains high due to changing lifestyles, remote work, and current mortgage rates. As a result, the custom home-building industry is likely to continue to grow, albeit with higher costs and longer timelines. Still, these can be easily navigable if you have the right construction company like Paxisgroup on your side.
There’s no one reason for the industry's building supply shortages and supply chain issues. It comes down to several intersecting societal, environmental, and economic factors: wildfires in the West, a shifting world economy, rising transportation costs, labor shortages, the echoes of the pandemic, flooding in lumbering regions, and so on.
The bottom line? If you're waiting for labor and material costs to fall, you'll likely wait a very long time. Though you may see some volatile prices, such as lumber, slightly decrease in 2024, the general trend will likely be increased. The most important data for homeowners is the rate at which prices rise.
While we can expect a more gentle slope as the cost of building a home in Georgia increases yearly, we've not seen the latest construction cost surges due to the factors we've just discussed. This doesn’t mean there aren't other factors at play, but these factors are murky at the moment.
We can only say that building a home in Georgia continues to be costly, and the prices are unlikely to lower, but that doesn’t mean you should be taken advantage of. With PAXISgroup, you can trust we’ll keep the custom home builder market in Georgia at the forefront of our minds while looking for ways to reduce the costs associated with building your dream home.
The specifics of how the home construction market conditions will impact you in the near future depend on your timeline, location, and the nature of your project when building a home in 2024.
However, you should always plan some ‘buffer room’ for delays and price increases. That doesn’t necessarily mean you should hold off on your home construction – or that these things are guaranteed to happen – but you should be aware of how shortages, delays, and rising costs could impact your project and, by extension, your life.
Timeline and cost are the two main areas of your project that could alter the current industry conditions. The high demand for building supplies and shortages mean people are willing to pay more for smaller remodeling or new home construction. So, you’ll want to build an extra cushion into your budget for unexpected cost increases.
While you’re searching for a builder for your project, ask how supply chain issues have impacted them if you want to get a better understanding of prices in your local area. Additionally, ask questions about how the status of your budget will be communicated throughout the project timeline, how your prospective builder will stay transparent about costs incurred, and what the company’s buyout process is.
Your builder may also have to deal with drawn-out lead times for construction materials, which could cause remodeling or new home construction delays. In addition to the potential complications this poses for building, this may affect your timeline as you make alternative living arrangements during construction.
The best thing you can do is consult with your builder to see what challenges they anticipate for your project. They can help you plan for delays and price changes, tell you which materials they have trouble accessing, and recommend compatible alternatives.
At PAXISgroup, we believe in integrity, so we’ll always be honest with you about the supply chain challenges facing your project and what it’ll take to overcome them. In addition, PAXISgroup is committed to providing cost-effective solutions while doing everything we can to prevent delays from disrupting your construction timeline.
For example, if we’re having difficulty obtaining a specific material for your project or if the price of that material increases, we’ll work with you to find an alternative material that more closely matches your budget and timeline.
PAXISgroup will also listen to your concerns and be forthcoming in communicating anticipated issues as soon as they are brought to our attention. As part of our commitment to our core values — customer-centric, intentional collaboration, unrelenting integrity, prioritizing people, perpetual growth, and intense listening — PAXISgroup builds meaningful relationships with our clients. We also collaborate with industry professionals and take responsibility for our mistakes because we always seek to improve.
Evidently, PAXISgroup knows the home construction industry well. For years, we have been one of the premier modern home builders in Georgia. If you’re ready to start the conversation leading to your custom home in Georgia's Lake Country, PAXISgroup would love to meet you!
You can contact us here and start asking us the questions that matter, like: how much does it cost to build a home in Georgia, or what influences in the industry can affect my home build timeline in 2024? We have the answers to these questions and more!