Builders Keep On Keeping On

It's been a pretty quiet week in terms of home builder news and, therefore, a good week to catch up with a few builder friends before the holidays move into full swing. There's no doubt that things are tough out there. From lingering economic uncertainty to continued tightness in the mortgage market, it's hard to find buyers. Competition is fierce for the ones who are out there as builders go toe-to-toe over every sale. Few see things getting any easier in the short term, even as the spring selling season peeks out from around the corner. If new-home sales volumes hold steady at the October seasonally adjusted annual rate of 283,000 units, the new-home market is set to shrink by another 28.5% from last year. As one builder put it, "We're treading water. There are some days where my head dips below water, but then something happens, and we're back to treading water." But even with so much doubt in the market, builders, in general, are still focused on moving forward. Granted the pace is measured, but they're still putting one foot in front of the other every day and working hard to squeeze the most out of every opportunity. And there do seem to still be opportunities out there. Every builder I spoke with had news of some land deal or another, suggesting that, after being pretty much shut out of the land game in 2009, private builders are finding good deals for good land.

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