The Olympia Master Builders and Thurston County Realtors® hosted the 2012 Housing Summit, on Wednesday, May 23rd at Indian Summer Golf & Country Club. “The Housing Summit is an opportunity for OMB and Thurston County Realtors® to provide quality information on the housing market in Thurston County,” said, OMB President James Peterson.
Art Castle, Executive Vice President, Building Industry Association of Washington, a Housing Summit guest speaker, stressed that the key to the recovery of the housing market is jobs. He said “people need to have stable employment before they will purchase a home.” He also noted that nationally, it is estimated that there is a pent-up demand for 2.1 million new homes.
Suzanne Britsch of New Home Trends presented a Housing Forecast for Thurston County. She announced that an additional 15,530 households are expected between now and 2020 in Thurston County. Britsch went on to say there are 18,000 single family lots in the development pipeline but predicted not all of them will end up being developed. She noted that “we need a 10 year supply of lots to keep housing prices stable and not end up with housing shortages.”
“The good news is that housing is more affordable than ever and interest rates continue to remain low. The not so good news is that people need to have better job stability before they are willing to purchase a home. The more troubling news is how some of the proposed regulations will affect the ability of our members to provide homes for the growing population expected in this area,” noted Laura Worf, Executive Officer of Olympia Master Builders.
The Housing Summit is an annual event put on to provide quality information to decision makers in the community. Please visit www.omb.org for additional information.
Olympia Master Builders is a professional trade association representing more than 600 member companies in Thurston, Lewis, Grays Harbor, Pacific and Mason Counties. The primary goal of OMB is to provide affordable housing for all segments of society. This is achieved by improving the construction industry and the business climate in which it operates. OMB members are committed to building strong communities, one home at a time.”
