Augusta area new home construction on rebound

After more than three years of searching, Tonya and Michael Jiggetts found their dream home.

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Jackie Ricciardi/Staff

Homes are being constructed in the Ashbrooke subdivision.

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Jackie Ricciardi/Staff

Homes are being constructed in the Ashbrooke subdivision.

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Jackie Ricciardi/Staff

There have been more new-home construction permits issued in the Augusta-Aiken area to date than all of last year. Many builders attribute the increase to steady employment, such as at Fort Gordon.

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Jackie Ricciardi/Staff

There have been more new-home construction permits issued in the Augusta-Aiken area to date than all of last year. Many builders attribute the increase to steady employment, such as at Fort Gordon.

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Jackie Ricciardi/Staff

Keystone builder Myron Fowler walks around a house being built in Grovetown.

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Jackie Ricciardi/Staff

Keystone builder Myron Fowler walks around a house being built in Grovetown.

In August, they purchased a newly built, five-bedroom home with a basement at Willhaven Estates near Fort Gordon.

The military family with four children had outgrown its old home in Grovetown and wanted to upgrade. At Willhaven, they got a 4,140-square-foot home and the amenities they wanted for $209,000.

"My husband and I are both native New Yorkers. Down here, you just get a lot more bang for the buck," Mrs. Jiggetts said.

That's what Forbes magazine concluded, too, when it ranked Augusta fifth nationally among metro areas for "bang for the buck" based on housing, taxes and commute times.

The Augusta-Aiken area is still recovering from the downturn in the housing market, but new-home construction has picked up from last year. For most of the decade, the area averaged 3,000 new homes annually. Last year, only 1,458 new-home construction permits were issued, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.To date, 1,836 new-home permits have been issued this year.

The last time the area's new home construction numbers were this low was the mid-1990s.

Builders attribute this year's rebound to the area's steady employment, particularly at Fort Gordon, which has attracted new neighborhoods such as Willhaven Estates.

FORT GORDON IS THE primary reason that Conyers, Ga-based Crown Communities Inc. came to Augusta, said Chris Bartow, the vice president of sales and marketing.

"We started out in a trailer, and before we had our first home built, we had already sold 40 houses. Every neighborhood that we've opened up near or around the base has really taken off like a rocket. Since then we've expanded to about 10 locations throughout the CSRA," Mr. Bartow said.

From April to December, Crown Communities Inc. sold more than 200 homes, he said.

Augusta-based Ivey Residential LLC built 60 homes this year.

"Our sales were up about 70 percent this year. We're still going strong. We're back up to the levels we were doing in 2007," said co-owner Matt Ivey.

Most of its sales are in Columbia County, building primarily in 10 neighborhoods, including Canterbury Farms, a Grovetown subdivision the company also developed.

"That neighborhood really just started off this year. For the year, it's already the No. 3 selling neighborhood in the CSRA. It's done very well for us," Mr. Ivey said. "One of the primary benefits that we've had in our market is Fort Gordon continues to bring in jobs. The housing that serves the base and the soldiers has probably done better than the overall market."

Home builders expect business to be about the same in 2010.

"For 2010, we expect to see a moderate improvement in sales and expect to sell 200-plus homes," said John Rhodes, the marketing director of Augusta-based Bill Beazley Homes Inc.

This year, the company closed on 173 new homes -- spread throughout 13 neighborhoods in Georgia and South Carolina, Mr. Rhodes said.

Crown Communities Inc. plans to develop four or five new subdivisions in the area in the first quarter of 2010, Mr. Bartow said.

"We're looking at really submitting ourselves as a builder in this market. We're looking forward to 2010. I think the market's going to continue to grow out in that area for a long time," he said.

BUILDERS HAVE ADAPTED to the change in the market and are building less-expensive homes.

Todd Bailey, the owner of R.T. Bailey Construction Inc. and Winchester Home Builders Inc., is building homes averaging $200,000 instead of $300,000 average in 2006.

"You either quit and find another line of work or you adapt to change and do the best job you can," Mr. Bailey said.

Homes priced under $250,000 are good sellers, but homes over $250,000 are tough, he said.

"If you get a good price point in a good neighborhood, you can still sell. Some neighborhoods are selling really good, and other neighborhoods aren't selling. I've got three houses sitting for two years in one neighborhood. I can't get a contract on them," Mr. Bailey said.

Keystone Homes LLC has changed its focus to what buyers are now looking for, CEO Lamar Crowell said.

"Not everybody has felt the downturn, but most of the market has, and they've adjusted their day-to-day standards and habits. We've adjusted what we're building. We're really focused on building more for less, trying to give the buyer as much value as we can generate. They seem to be very interested in that," he said.

The company is building fewer homes than it built from 2004 to 2007, but that is to be expected, he said.

Blanchard and Calhoun Real Estate Co. is still finding success, however, with homes in the upper price points. The company develops neighborhoods and sells lots to builders and individuals, said Jason Whinghter, a development manager.

Its largest neighborhoods are Tudor Branch in Grovetown, with homes from $200,000 to more than $300,000, and Bartram Trail in Evans, with homes from $250,000 to $450,000.

As long as they haven't overbuilt, the upper-price market should still do well, Mr. Whinghter said.

"We'll probably continue as we're going right now at a slower pace than several years ago, but a continued moderate pace to keep up with the demand of how we're selling," he said.

Augusta's steady housing market is keeping local subcontractors, such as Ray Fitzgerald, employed. The owner of R.F. Interior Trim has worked as a subcontractor for R.T. Bailey Construction Inc. for four years.

"I've been very fortunate. There's a bunch of people that do what I do that don't have any work. I have a builder that is fortunately a very smart individual, and it seems like he knows how to make money. As long as he's making money, all his subcontractors are making money," he said.

Reach LaTina Emerson at (706) 823-3227 or latina.emerson@augustachronicle.com.