The Expert Podcast

So if you're a home builder or in the construction industry, you may now be considered as being a hero. According to some articles, home builders are going to save the economy, and we'll talk about why and what's going on. But first, before we forget, remember that we have two other YouTube channels you might be interested in. We have actualhuman.com and describe.tv. You'll see the links below. On those channels, we get into many more detailed subjects like home building, construction, the economy, even things like AI and EV cars. So you might want to head over there to watch those videos in more depth. We also have live events on those channels where you can watch us in real-time talk about some of these subjects like lumber prices, the construction industry, and those kinds of things.

Right into our story: according to Market Watch, home builders will help save America's sluggish housing market. Why is that? Well, as you know, the housing market is weird right now. Home prices are up by a long shot. They're way high. Some people think too high. Some people think it's a bubble. Some people think it's going to crash. Regardless of what you think, used resale homes are not selling, mostly because there's not that many for sale. Most people are clinging to their existing 3% mortgage. No way they want to sell their house and get rid of their mortgage, right? Because it's cheap. So what's picking up the slack? New home construction, new home builders. So if you're a builder, a contractor, even if you do remodels or additions, you're seeing your demand go through the roof—no pun intended.

In some cases, building a new home might be better than buying. This article from Axios talks about the math. The scales are tipping towards new construction. So again, if you're a builder, you're going to find that your clients, your customers, are doing the math and finding that the median price for existing homes is now more expensive than new construction. So if you're a builder, factor that in. Your clients are finding that your price is cheaper than buying a resale—probably easier to find, too.

What's your biggest problem? Well, the construction industry is facing an extreme labor shortage. You already know that if you are a tradesperson, skilled construction worker, framer, roofer, much less an electrician, plumber, HVAC, right? You're finding that the shortage of construction workers is extreme. There's roughly 650,000 workers short, slowing the completion of construction projects. So this dream of home builders helping the housing market is being shattered because there's not enough workers.

We have colleagues in the construction industry that are offering $50-60 an hour plus—not entry-level, but basic tradespeople—framers, roofers, painters, siding. I'm not talking about higher-level workers like journeyman electricians or plumbers or HVAC who have a little bit more demand and a little bit less competition. I'm talking normal trades. If you're reliable, if you know what you're doing, you're relatively safe on the job. There are places in the country where you can make $50-60 an hour and make a couple grand a week with no problem, right? Because of that shortage.

So if you're in the construction industry, I'm sure you have an opinion about all this. Make sure you put your opinions below. Tell us what you're seeing in your market. What is the going rate for labor? Is there a shortage? Are the builders running behind on completing homes? Every area is a little bit different. And like always, we want to know what's going on in your neck of the woods. Because we see this in certain places, but the more Intel we gather from different places, the better.

The home real estate industry, the single-family home real estate industry, is in turmoil. There's not enough houses to go around. Interest rates are through the roof—7% plus. That's keeping current homeowners clinging to their house with white knuckles. I'm not letting go of my house, which means buyers coming into the market have to resort to new homes, which in a lot of places are cheaper. So that's putting a huge demand on the building industry, which is creating opportunities for both employees, tradespeople, contractors, and subs all over the country.