Several municipalities in the Lehigh Valley and northwest New Jersey are finally seeing new home construction after a five-year lull.
View full sizeNew home construction has restarted at Scenic Ridge in Lopatcong Township and several other developments in the Lehigh Valley and northwest New Jersey. Forks Township zoning officer Tim Weis is once again busy issuing permits for new homes.
The township’s building boom slowed significantly in the latter part of the last decade, but Weis said he’s seeing signs of recovery over the last six months.
“We’re now getting seven to eight permits a month,” he said. “We’re expecting about a 25 percent increase in housing starts compared to last year.”
It’s a turnaround that’s occurring in multiple municipalities throughout the Lehigh Valley and northwest New Jersey after a five-year lull.
“We are definitely seeing signs of a housing recovery,” said Chuck Hamilton, executive officer of the Lehigh Valley Builders Association. “Mortgage rates remain historically low and the existing housing inventory has dropped significantly — all good signs for new home construction.”
Existing homes selling
Karen Bonatz, a real estate agent with Tuskes Homes, said improvement in the home resale market has been a boost to the company’s new home sales. The company is building new housing complexes in Bushkill and Upper Nazareth townships, and plans to start construction this summer on a long-stalled 78-home complex in Palmer and Bethlehem townships in Northampton County.
“I’m finding people are coming in now saying, ‘I put my home on the market, it was on for two, three weeks — I need a home,’” Bonatz said. “That’s something new.”
Riverview Estates, a 500-home complex started in 2001, is one of the Forks developments experiencing renewed interest after a slow five years, said Chris Anderson, vice president of Segal & Morel, the development owner.
“Our traffic numbers are reasonable and they’re picking up,” he said. “And the people coming into our sales office are much more qualified than they were three to five years ago.”
Home construction in Warren and Hunterdon counties is comparatively slower, but the two counties are experiencing resurgence in some pockets, including the Phillipsburg area, said Dave Richardson, vice president of Weichert New Homes. The eight-lot Hillcrest Estates in Phillipsburg sold out over the last six months and Belview Estates and Scenic Ridge in Lopatcong Township also are experiencing a boost in sales, he said.
“The new homes arena had its turmoil in the last three or four years," Richardson said. "It has turned a corner.”
Age-restricted housing
New Jersey is not seeing resurgence, however, in construction of new age-restricted homes, Richardson said.
“The buyer is more nervous about making a financial mistake at that time in their lives,” he said.
Some Lehigh Valley age-restricted complexes are experiencing the exact opposite, however, officials said.
View full sizeTraditions of America has started on a second age-restricted complex in Hanover Township, Northampton County, on Bridle Path Road after its complex on Route 512 sold out. Traditions of America saw sales return at its Hanover development off Route 512 in 2011 after two years of sluggish sales, said Nathan Jameson, a company partner. That’s two years earlier than most others experiencing increased sales, who say the rebound has occurred in just the last six months.
The 241-home, age-restricted complex is sold out and the company has started on another development in Hanover Township, Northampton County, on Bridle Path Road. The new 204-home complex went on the market in September and 66 homes have already been sold, Jameson said.
He sees older buyers more able to make new home purchases in this market because many of them are retired and have small or no mortgages.
“The 55-and-over buyer is less affected by the economic downturn that occurred and the housing downturn that occurred,” Jameson said. “I don’t believe (new home construction) has turned around for everybody.”
An age-restricted complex in Bethlehem also is selling new townhouses after years of delay. Turnberry Mews on Linden Street originally sold 16 of its townhouses shortly after it was approved in 2005 but then the complex went into foreclosure, said Meryl Cooper, an agent with Prudential Patt White in Bethlehem Township, Pa., that’s selling new homes in the complex.
A new company restarted the project last year and nine new townhouses are currently on the market. The new listings have been active only 30 days and two are under agreement, she said.
“That’s pretty remarkable,” Cooper said. “It is turning around.”
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NATIONAL TREND
Nationwide, housing starts are forecast to jump from the historic low of 550,000 in 2009 to 1.5 million by 2015, the Associated Press reports.