Labor, Material Pricing Resources and Advocacy
By Andrew Pieper, Hillwood Communities
Dallas Builders Association President
We understand that the unprecedented challenges with availability and pricing of labor and materials have disrupted your business and created difficult conversations with current and prospective home buyers. In an effort to help better facilitate those conversations and explain to them what is occurring in the market, our Executive Officer, Phil Crone, has drafted a letter linked HERE that you can share with consumers. The text of that letter is also included below for you to borrow from as you wish.
We continue to urge officials at the state and national levels and our media contacts to address this issue. Here are examples of recent stories done in print and television media.
Despite these efforts, progress will not occur quickly, especially with the added uncertainty stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We will continue to keep you informed and up to date on progress with this and the other numerous issues we are following. I also encourage you to become more involved with the Dallas BA through participation on the Government Affairs Committee or one of our other divisions, councils and committees.
March 4, 2022
Dear Dallas BA Members,
Housing affordability has been a critical issue across the country for years, as factors such as a shortage of lots and labor have led to a limited supply. Every week, I continue to receive new reports of critical materials being difficult, if not impossible, to procure in a timely manner and of the extraordinary prices you’re experiencing as a result of the shortage of materials and labor. By nearly every measure, the scope of these challenges are unlike anything we have experienced since the end of World War II.
The DFW housing market became the nation’s largest due to your ability to build quality communities at attainable price points. Labor, material and supply chain challenges impact our area more significantly than any other due to our affordability relative to other markets along with sustained and strong housing demand.
Please know that the Dallas Builders Association, along with the Texas Association of Builders and National Association of Home Builders, is doing everything in its power to address this issue. This includes pleading with Congress and the Biden Administration to investigate the cause of these issues and take every action necessary to stabilize these critical supply chains.
We recognize that you are doing everything possible to avoid pricing consumers out of homes while still maintaining competitive prices necessary to operate your businesses. We strongly encourage you to inform your customers that 1) supply chain volatility will continue for the foreseeable future; and 2) that these issues will continue to have a negative impact on prices and may require substitutions for certain materials as permitted by code requirements.
Additionally, you should advise your customers of any contractual escalation clauses. These are common in fixed-price contracts, including those promulgated by our association, that protect consumers from unconscionable situations.
As always, please keep us apprised of what you are seeing in the market. We will do the same as we make progress with the regulators and policy makers who can preserve your ability to provide the wealth-creating opportunity of homeownership.
Sincerely,
Phil Crone
Executive Officer