Investing Into The Dip, Now Is A Good Time For Homebuilders To Prepare For What's Coming Next

WATCH: Join Steve Nellis, President/CEO of the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE) , Will Holder, Professor of Practice – Construction Science Management at Texas State, and technology and industry expert, Sean Wilhelm, Vice President at Constellation Homebuilder Systems as they discus this topic in depth.

The past few years in the homebuilding industry have been filled with many challenges triggered by the global pandemic.  Looking back at the start of these unprecedented times, many were fearful not only for their lives and the health of loved ones, but also that we were on the verge of an economic slowdown that could negatively affect the world for years.  Fast forward just a few months, by the summer of 2020, we learned of builders getting creative using technologies ranging from electronic signatures, online design studio software, 3 dimensional visualizers, and electronic fund transfer that helped to process a record number of home sales transactions.  The demand for new and existing home sales skyrocketed home prices in most major markets across North America.  What a remarkable shift that no one could have predicted.

New challenges

Knocking things down a peg, unforeseen supply chain issues triggered by lumber-mill and glue manufacturer shutdowns and the demand skyrocketing for materials for new construction, remodels, and DIY projects (which also saw record highs), homebuilders had a new challenge on their hands; how to build all of the homes that were sold and how to do it cost effectively.

We now brace for a return to normalcy with new challenges ahead.  With rising interest rates and inflation on everyone’s mind, a correction or slowdown in the market is unfortunately inevitable.  Record low interest rates and record high home sales for another 10 years simply isn’t sustainable.  All the data that we have seen so far for 2022 points to a return to home sales rates that are on par with pre-pandemic levels which was on a slow and steady increase from 2011 to 2019.  Not a bad place to return to in the grand scheme of things.

New opportunities

As we continue this journey, the silver lining is that we all have an opportunity to prepare return to where we were before our worlds were turned upside down.  Many companies have just been too busy over the past few years to move forward with their strategic projects that could ultimately improve operations and create efficiencies in their day-to-day tasks.  A slight slowdown in the market should provide organizations a chance to take full advantage of their existing technology solutions or invest in new and innovative ways to improve their businesses, realize cost savings, and improve profit margins.

If your organization hasn’t been thinking of ways to take advantage of these opportunities, the sky is the limit.  As the leading software solutions provider for homebuilders, we are here to partner with you.  Reach out to learn about the many new features in your existing solutions that you might have missed over the past few years … our development teams haven’t stopped innovating!  Talk to us about the new products, modules, and integrations that we have developed that can take your business to the next level.  Invest in custom reports or dashboards to eliminate the manual work your employees are doing each week and to learn more from your data.  Take this time to invest in training your staff to use all the modules and features you are already paying for.  Even small investments and projects are great ways to get the most out of your existing technology investment and will ultimately provide you with smoother running operations.