The great reshuffling has many people moving to less dense parts of the country in search of bigger homes, more space, and a higher quality of life. This new demand mixed with disruptions to the global supply chain drove up the average cost of building a single-family home by $36,000 in the first half of 2021 - yikes!
Even if you’re eager to move to a new, bigger space, seeing story after story in the news about the rising cost of building a home might give you some pause. The rest of this blog post will explain why even amidst seemingly high prices, now is still a great time to start planning your custom home build in Utah County.
Building a custom home is an extremely long process. Before you even get to the “building” of your custom home, you have to find the right piece of land, prepare the land for construction, design the home, go through permitting, and much more. Chances are, if you started planning your custom home today, the actual construction wouldn’t begin until spring of 2022.
We’ve already seen the price of lumber come crashing back down after peaking in May. As global supply chains ramp back up to meet the demand, prices for everything from lumber to countertops will come back down to realistic levels.
Finding the right piece of land is arguably the most difficult piece of the custom home building process. As more and more people move to cities in Utah County, land is becoming more and more scarce. High demand and dwindling supply will continue to increase the cost of buying land throughout the county, making it harder and more expensive to find the right piece of land for your preferences. If your dream is to build a truly custom home, now is the time to secure the right piece of land to accommodate your preferences.
Demand for housing across the country, especially in Utah County, is much greater than supply. This applies to the actual supply of houses themselves, and the amount of professionals who build houses. Put another way, there are more people who want to build homes than the amount of builders there are to build them.
A lot of people considering building a custom home are trying to “get in” at the right time. As construction material prices start coming down, more and more people are going to start reaching out to builders to build their custom home. The problem, as stated above, is there are a finite amount of builders available. If in 6 months you decide to reach out to your top three choices for a custom builder, you might find that they’re booked out for the next 1-2 years.
Instead, reach out to your number 1 choice now and get started with the planning process. As stated above, pre-construction can take anywhere between 3-12 months. When it’s time to build and buy your construction materials, prices will likely be down and you’ll be reaping the benefits of being ahead of the curve.
We’d be honored to talk with you about your project. Give us a call at 801-803-8931 or fill out a contact form on our website.