Why isn’t the supply of new homes isn’t growing even while home prices are increasing? Taylor Morrison Chairman & CEO Sheryl Palmer discussed this problem with Bloomberg Daybreak host David Westin.
“Over the last 30-34 months, we’ve seen supply dropping. We just don’t have the infrastructure to build enough new homes to meet the demand. In fact, we continue to build on a deficit based on population growth,” Palmer admits. When asked about the primary barrier to growth, Palmer said that construction of roads and water service is only a small part of the issue. “Even greater is the trade availability, folks to actually build the homes.”
Higher Costs for Home Buyers
Mortgage rates, home prices rising as inventory falls
“We do not have enough skilled labor on the ground.”
Skilled construction workers left the industry during the downturn, and the recovery has been slow. “If you think about where we were at the prior [2008] peak, we had close to a million workers in the U.S. building the homes when we were doing about two million starts per year. Right now our labor is about a third of that, and our housing starts as well over halfway back.”
“The skill gap is a governor on new household starts. We do not have the skilled labor on the ground,” Palmer declares.
Given the shortage of skilled labor, home building companies are are looking for technology to maximize the capacity of their available workforce. One of the solutions being adopted is wireless switching, which allows electrical workers to complete homes 30% faster. Jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada are approving wireless switching for use in new residential construction.
Saving 8,000 days per year
Levven Controls, a product of Levven Electronics, is a wire-free switch that eliminates the installation of wire, pipe, and boxes that traditional wired switches require. “We’re consistently saving builders more than a day on their home construction times,” says Levven Electronics Vice President Marv Verlage. “Our niche at Levven is applying technology to reduce the time and cost used by skilled labor to deliver new homes or commercial projects.”
“A large production builder like Taylor Morrison, constructing 8,000 home per year, one day per home translates into 8,000 additional days of skilled labor available to build and deliver more homes.” Levven Electronics shares Sheryl Palmer’s desire to complete more new homes so families can move in sooner. Learn more about how Levven Controls can save one day of skilled labor per home.
Learn More
Use Levven Controls wireless switches and controllers to save one day per new home. Home Builders using Levven Controls simplify their construction and deliver more homes faster. Electrical Contractors can complete more jobs with their existing crews.
