Real estate, home construction on the rise along the Coast

BILOXI, MS (WLOX) - There seems to be a feeling of optimism from those who work in the real estate and home construction business. Numbers for the first quarter of this year on the Coast are higher than they were this time last year.

Hammers are pounding and saws are buzzing as new homes go up all over the Coast. For sale signs on existing homes disappear after just a few weeks.

These are good times for Marcy Bartman with DR Horton Homebuilders. “People are coming in every day. My phones are ringing all the time. I’m showing property all up and down the coast. All of our communities, we’re really excited about it. And that’s why we keep building.”

For many developers and realtors, they have advice for would-be buyers. Listen to Ryan Goldin. “People are starting to realize that now is the time. I mean if you’re going to do something, now is the time to do it from a banking standpoint.”

That time is now for Ernie Brune and his wife Donna. They just bought a new home. “I feel very confident. I just recently retired from the shipyard and we sold our older home and had this one built and I’ve got my brother building a house just behind me.”

Moving them in is Chris Miller, who is just as confident. “I think the economy is booming. I haven’t any days off. I’ve been working every day. The houses seem to be selling and going real quick.”

One thing that has happened that has led to the increase optimism among realtors and builders in something that actually hasn’t happened. The Fed has not increased interest rates as quickly as they said they would so far this year.

Realtor Jim Atchinson gives his take. “Rates were expected to go up to about 5.5 percent to 5.8 percent by the end of the year. The feds policy to keep rates where they were has got a lot of people in the market.”

That means you’ll continue to hear construction sounds for quite some time.

The chairman of the Federal Reserve Board has indicated that interest rates will probably remain the same for the rest of this year.

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