Lately, home prices have been increasing. Part of the reason for this is that there is a shortage of housing laborers. In a recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders, more than half of the builders reported that these labor shortages have lead to paying higher wages or bids in order to secure a project, thus the increase in home prices. This lack of laborers in all facets of residential construction has been impeding the housing and economic recovery.
"The survey of our members shows that since June of 2012, residential construction firms are reporting an increasing number of shortages in all aspects of the industry - from carpenters, excavators, framers, roofers and plumbers, to bricklayers, HVAC, building maintenance managers and weatherization workers. The same holds true for subcontractors," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.
This lack of laborers can be attributed to the fact that many skilled residential construction workers were forced to find other types of jobs during the recession and they are no longer available now. As a result, many current homes are experiencing delays in completion. Some projects are even being turned down and cancelled altogether because there aren't enough workers to complete the task.
"What used to be high-paying, skilled jobs vanished as builders across the nation went out of business or were forced to let workers go," said NAHB Chairman Rick Judson, a home builder from Charlotte, N.C.
Other problems consist of a lack of buildable lots, and an increase in the cost for materials and labor. To help meet the growing demand for skilled labor , the Home Builders Institute (HBI) along with NAHB, are working to provide career training and job placement opportunities in the building industry. HBI offers many pre-apprenticeship training programs in a variety of skilled trades that can hopefully help meet the needs of communities across the nation. They have a success rate of 80% of their students being placed into jobs after graduation.
"We are ramping up our efforts to train diverse populations and place them in jobs to meet the growing demand of the building sector," said HBI President and CEO John Courson.
"Even in a period of relatively high unemployment, we still need to complement our job training efforts by bringing in foreign workers to meet the needs of home builders and home buyers," added Judson.
All of this training is very important for the economy. Currently, the labor shortages are slowing down the housing recovery and hurting job and economic growth overall. However, as the economy heals and grows, the demand for housing will continue to grow. This is will also be good for the mortgage industry as more and more people will need to fund their new homes.
