Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | June 11, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal 13 "During the recession, developers didn't invest in seeking approvals, and now we're basically playing catch-up." Joseph Laydon, Grafton town planner W A R C H I T E C T U R E & C O N S T R U C T I O N F O C U S New home building Source: U.S. Census Bureau Approvals of new housing units has fallen sharply in Worcester County, and even more so in Worcester itself since 2003. 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 '03 '04 '05 '06 '16 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '03 '04 '05 '06 '16 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 City of Worcester Worcester County New homes New homes 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 '03 '04 '05 '06 '16 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '03 '04 '05 '06 '16 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 City of Worcester Worcester County New homes New homes (3,176) and Shrewsbury (1,437), accord- ing to the Census. Aside from the permitting process, getting projects built can be a long undertaking, Laydon said. One project in Graon started on paper a decade ago still hasn't begun construction, he said. For builders, the process for buying land, hiring an engineer and going through permitting is lengthy enough that projects conceived aer the Great Recession may just be hitting the market now, Laydon said. "During the recession, developers didn't invest in seeking approvals, and now we're basically playing catch-up," Laydon said. Prices climbing In April, the median price of a single-family home sold in Worcester County was $264,275, a 9-percent in- crease from a year ago, according to the Boston real estate data firm e Warren Group. Despite these increases like these – prices for single-family Worcester County homes went up 5 percent from 2016 to 2017 – prices still remain below their pre-Great Recession levels. According to the U.S. Census, which looks at all of metropolitan Worcester including Windham County, Conn., the price for all homes in the region this century peaked in 2005 at $290,700. Prices bottomed out aer the recession in 2012 at $206,000. Patterson, of the realty association, said high prices for materials and work- ers mean builders must get increasingly higher home prices in order to make new construction viable. If builders could put new homes on the market for $350,000, "we could sell them like hotcakes all day long," Patter- son said. "You can have a home listed on a Friday and have it sold by Tuesday." Yet, inventory remains a problem for the real estate industry. April marked the 25th straight month of declining inventory driving up prices statewide, and the number of single-family homes sold in Worcester County is down by one from this point in 2017, according to the Warren Group. Worcester vs. state, nation As Worcester County has been build- ing fewer homes in the past 15 years, it has fallen behind the Massachusetts rate. In 2003, Greater Worcester built at 18 percent of the homes in the state. In 2017, it built 10 percent. e Worcester metropolitan area has slipped behind the national rate, as well. In 2003, this area built 19 of every 10,000 houses nationwide. By 2017, it was down to 14 of every 10,000 homes, according to Census data. Inside the Worcester County, the city has the largest population, but its influ- ence over new home construction has been waning. In 2003, Worcester city accounted for 19 percent of new housing in the county. By 2016, it was 5 percent. e city of Worcester itself isn't keep- ing up with many smaller communities in Massachusetts in new homes, either. In the five-year span ending in 2016, Worcester ranked 30th statewide in new-home construction approvals. e city ranked behind both close- in Boston suburbs like Chelsea and Westminster Place is envisioned as a 55-plus community off Newell Road in Holden. The U-shaped road for the development was first laid out in 2004, but the development remains mostly unbuilt. Everett and farther-out suburbs like Plymouth and Middleborough. Five Central Massachusetts communities landed ahead of Worcester: Natick, Hopkinton, Framingham, Boxborough and Holden. However, this year will bring something of a rebound, thanks to one high-profile project. e 145 Front at City Square apartments had the first of its 365 units open in February. As- suming all those units come online this year, that project alone will make 2018 the highest year for new-home con- struction in the city of Worcester since 2005, when 501 homes were built.

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