Business View Magazine | April/May 2022

30 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 4 around the country, especially when permits and schedules are tied to the completion of particular components of a home. Norman provides an example: “Before a house can pass a ‘closed in’ inspection, all windows and doors must be installed. Currently, window deliveries are seeing delays of up to five months, preventing builders from moving to the next step because they have not passed this inspection. Our members and local associations are having to work with cities to adjust the permitting and inspection process to allow builders to use plywood board on the windows to pass that inspection.” Another challenge that has emerged from the pandemic is an unwillingness by builders, especially production builders, to enter into contracts with home buyers until the house is at least in the framing stage. “Before the pandemic, prices were more stable, so you could sign a contract for a specific price for a home and make the payment later once construction was complete,” says Norman. “Now, because the delay between contract and close is so much longer, and prices are rising so rapidly, builders will only enter into contracts when they have a lot of those materials built into the homes, giving them a better idea of what it will cost. If they don’t do this, they will enter into a contract for X, but it will cost them an extra $50-75,000 to build, meaning they would be losing money.” Despite these challenges, Norman sees the housing industry in Texas continuing to expand, especially on the back of a robust population and jobs growth trend. He shares, “With more jobs and more people, the demand for housing will only grow. Our members are rightfully proud of what they do in building communities. The TAB will continue being a voice for members in reminding policymakers – local, state, and national – that their decisions affect homebuilders and homeowners, not just here in Texas but countrywide.” impact on multiple industries, with the core symptom across the board being supply chain disruptions. This issue has been magnified in the homebuilding industry due to the diverse materials required when building a home. “Undoubtedly, the biggest challenges our industry is facing are materials shortages and delays and an extreme spike in pricing that is pushing up housing prices,” Norman acknowledges. “For example, materials costs rose triple digit percentage points during the pandemic, adding tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of a home. At the same time, a shortage of appliances due to the ongoing microchip shortage is forcing homebuyers to be less picky about the appliances they get or wait for up to a year and pay more for the appliance of their choice.” These materials delays have created a unique problem for home builders in Texas and