By Sam Boykin

Ask a Charlotte home builder or contractor about the state of the market, and you’ll probably hear the words “cautiously optimistic.” It’s a generic catchphrase that doesn’t mean a whole lot, but it’s a lot better than the words they were using this time last year — most of which we can’t print anyway.

And there does seem to be cause for some optimism. According to Jim Bartl, director of code enforcement for Mecklenburg County, the number of building permits issued for single-family detached homes is starting to creep back up.

Bartl said 773 permits were issued from January 1 to April 30 this year, compared to 443 during the corresponding time period in 2009. For the fiscal year to date (from July 1, 2009, to April 30, 2010) 1,844 permits were issued, while the corresponding period in the previous  fiscal year saw 1,479 permits issued.

Bartl said he expects a 25 percent increase in permits issued by the end of the year compared to 2009, but that the numbers are still substantially lower compared to when real estate was booming a few years ago, such as in 2007, when nearly 8,700 permits were issued.

Things are certainly looking up for Bill Saint, president of Simonini Builders Inc.  He said that compared to last year, the company’s home sales from January 1 to May 19 are up more than 120 percent, with 20 homes sold to date.

“We’ve started 23 homes this year, as compared to only two during the same time in 2009,” he said.

Simonini Builders is working in three new neighborhoods. At the gated community Bellmore Hall in south Charlotte, the company is building three homes starting in the low $600s. At Ashton, also in south Charlotte, work is underway on four homes priced in the high $500s. And north of Charlotte at The Preserve at Robbins Park near Lake Norman, Simonini is building five homes with prices starting in the $500s.

The recent uptick in the residential home building market also benefits contractors like Doug Doggett, CEO at Charlotte-based Doggett Concrete Construction Co.

Doggett is working with Simonini at all three of its new projects, and is also working with other builders on multi-family projects in Columbia, Raleigh and Rock Hill.

“It’s not back to 2007 levels, but things are picking back up,” he said. “I feel a lot more optimistic.”

Doggett is also CEO of MoistureLoc Inc., and does waterproofing for builders including Ryan Homes. He has 96 employees between the two companies, down from 202 a few years ago, he said. And while more work is starting to trickle in, he said he’s being cautious about putting people back to work.

“There’s a lot of quality guys out there, so we’re being much more selective about who we hire,” Doggett said. “And in some cases I’m using subcontractors or temporary labor so I don’t overstaff myself too quickly.”

And surprisingly, Doggett said he oftentimes has a hard time finding qualified workers because of extended unemployment benefits.

“It’s created a negative impact on people coming back to work in the construction industry,” he said. “If a guy can stay at home and get $350 a week in unemployment, and supplement that with a few odd jobs, he’s not likely to come back to work for $10 to $12 an hour.

“I’ve contacted guys who I knew were unemployed, and they just won’t call us back.”

Richard Platt, president of Charlotte-based G & G Landscape & Irrigation Inc. is also working with Simonini on its new projects. Platt said he stayed busy for most of 2009, because a lot of his projects involved working on homes that were started in 2008. But by the end of the year the recession caught up with him, and there was a noticeable drop in jobs from November to February.

“But now things are picking up again,” he said. “It feels like there’s some momentum in the market again, and that really puts the air back into your sails.”

Rob Gislason, David Weekly Homes’ division president, also said he believes the home market is starting to turn around.

“This year is very different for us,” he said. “Last year all we were doing was closing out projects, this year we are actively seeking and starting new projects.”

The new projects, all scheduled to start in June, include Carrington Ridge in Huntersville, with homes in starting in the $180s. Also in the works is the Springfield neighborhood in Fort Mill, where the company has an option to build on 20 lots with homes starting in the $300s, and finally Hawthorne in Harrisburg, where Weekly has 104 lots with plans to build homes starting the $220s.

Mattamy Homes also has several new projects on the horizon. This month it contracted to acquire 157 single-family home sites at Waterlynn in Mooresville. Division president Bill Kiselick said the 1,800- to 2,600-square-foot homes will be priced from the low $200s. Construction is set to start in June. Other projects scheduled to start this summer include Hubbard Falls in Charlotte, Mountain Laurel in Concord, Skybrook in Huntersville, and South Point Village in Belmont.

“Although times are still tough relative to 2007, things are improving,” said Kiselick. “Last year we didn’t do any new construction. We were in a holding pattern. But I think we’ve hit bottom, and we’re well positioned for when the economy starts to recover.”

Contractor Scott Ginn, president of Charlotte-based Southend Exteriors, said his business has doubled this year compared to 2009. In addition to working on all of Mattamy’s communities, Ginn said he has jobs lined up with about eight other home builders at dozens of new communities throughout Charlotte.

“I’m just glad 2009 is over,” he said.

Courtsey of Mecklenburg Times