Lee County home builders get a few bites

The slow pace of construction permitting in Lee County continued in October as the home-building industry waited for a chance to compete pricewise with the inventory of existing homes.

But builders reported a surge of interest by buyers that defies the current doldrums.
Permits were issued for 23 single-family homes in unincorporated Lee County in October, down from 31 in September and 30 in October 2008, according to statistics released Tuesday by the county Department of Community Development.
In Fort Myers, 16 single-family permits were issued - down from 21 in September and 30 from October 2008. Permit numbers from Cape Coral weren't available Tuesday and there were six in Bonita Springs, one in Sanibel and none in Fort Myers Beach.
Michael Timmerman, a Naples-based senior associate with Fishkind & Associates, an Orlando-based economic consulting firm, said the problem for home builders is that the inventory of existing homes is so cheap right now - the median price of an existing house sold with the help of a Realtor was $89,700 in September, the last month available, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.
That's less than a third of the all-time high of $322,300 set in December 2005 at the top of the boom.
Until prices come up, Timmerman said, "I really don't expect to see permits increase too much. The cost to build a house is more than the cost to buy a house."

The good news is that prices are now trending up, he said, but "It's going to be slow until we get to that point where there's not that much of a variance" between the price to build and to buy.
But Bob Knight, co-owner of Paul Homes in Cape Coral, said he's been fielding a lot of inquiries from potential buyers drawn by the low price of land. "They want the house the way they want it, their colors, and land is reasonable, even for waterfront."
Paul is building a model home now for the first time in years, and he's hearing from German investors looking to put up and rent houses designed as vacation homes for Europeans.