Real Estate Recovery (Sara/Mana edition)

Real Estate Recovery (Sara/Mana edition)

Good news: The value of new construction and starts grew by about 12% in 2003 compared to a year earlier.

By Sean Roth

Real Estate Editor

The real estate industry in Sarasota and Manatee counties saw record growth in 2003 after a stagnant period the previous year, according to the Construction Guide.

Total starts in 2003 were up 12.5%, or by 1,580. More importantly, the value of new construction increased 11.8%, or $223 million, in 2003. That's especially important since new construction values declined 1% in 2002 and new construction grew by a mere 2%.

In 2003, multifamily development continued a more than two-year decline. Multifamily starts declined 31.5%, or by 85, and multifamily values fell 26.4% or $61.7 million.

But commercial values recovered nicely from their sharp decline in 2002, even though the number of starts fell. Commercial values were up 8.1% or $33.08 million. Commercial starts declined 2.9%, or by 27. The four remaining construction sectors -single family, residential alteration, duplex and pool - experienced double-digit increases over the previous year.

The largest growth was seen in the duplex sector. Starts were up 27.2%, or 37, and the value of new duplex construction jumped by 36.1%, or $6 million, to $22.8 million.

Some areas didn't fare so well.

Anna Maria, Bradenton and Bradenton Beach experienced sharp declines in both starts and values. The biggest decline occurred on Bradenton Beach where starts fell 55.6%, or by 15, and values dropped 89%, or $8 million, to $1 million.

The biggest regional winners were in south Sarasota County's Venice and North Port. Venice experienced the greatest growth in new construction starts as a percentage - 83.5% or 325, and values increased 53.6% or $39 million. North Port had the greatest number of actual increased starts, 937 or 51.7%, and its construction values surged by $79.8 million or 47.8%.

Both Sarasota County and Holmes Beach had growth in new construction starts, although the value of new construction declined. Sarasota County starts grew 2.5%, or 107, while the total value of new construction dropped 9.3%, or $64.8 million, to $635 million. Most of that value decline occurred in the commercial, multifamily and single-family sectors. A considerable decline in multifamily construction values dragged down Holmes Beach's construction value to $5.9 million, a drop of 35.9% or $3.3 million.

CONSTRUCTION STARTS

% chg.

2003SFR/ADuplexMFPoolComTotalfrom 2002

Anna Maria51100602215.8%

Bradenton4147033785213-24.2%

Bradenton Beach14006112-55.6%

City of Sarasota751362295125435-10.9%

Holmes Beach730303948318.6%

Longboat Key231101039317630.4%

North Port1,970244610677242,75151.7%

Palmetto31201181466-14.3%

Venice381690202083671483.5%

Manatee County3,0722137791,7472895,4075.9%

Sarasota County1,930473114701,4503114,3482.5%

Total7,5361,1191731854,32289214,22712.5%

% chg. from 200214.7%16.0%27.2%-31.5%14.2%-2.9%12.5%

CONSTRUCTION VALUES

2003SFR/ADuplexMFPoolComTotal% chg. from 2002

Anna Maria$1,578,763$629,679--$69,247$2,277,689-8.3%

Bradenton$5,799,070$1,912,667-$3,955,000$905,651$35,659,296$48,231,684-50.1%

Bradenton Beach$500,000$327,600--$107,235$85,000$1,019,835-89.0%

City of Sarasota$24,189,719$11,085,390$344,000$38,365,890$2,300,492$120,587,548$196,873,03938.1%

Holmes Beach$1,791,679$1,795,559$1,160,402-$724,541$407,000$5,879,181-35.9%

Longboat Key$13,459,842$11,462,027$700,000-$930,933$951,475$27,504,27729.7%

North Port$227,006,328$1,057,063$3,138,432$418,176$11,266,643$4,049,059$246,935,70147.8%

Palmetto$6,135,401$63,000-$9,031,587$480,797$3,623,002$19,333,78781.6%

Venice$71,665,581$4,672,861-$19,734,535$6,019,208$9,984,906$112,077,09153.6%

Manatee County$561,704,045$11,350,391$846,000$35,013,490$42,676,968$167,856,473$819,447,36724.2%

Sarasota County$395,731,174$30,405,990$16,585,156$65,884,240$30,935,373$95,771,268$635,313,201-9.3%

Total$1,309,561,602$74,762,227$22,773,990$172,402,918$96,417,088$438,975,027$2,114,892,85211.8%

% change from 200220.8%7.6%36.1%-26.4%17.8%8.1%11.8%

Source: The Construction Guide

Top 20 Contractors

(by starts)

BuildersStarts

1.Centex Homes531

2.Lee Wetherington Homes Inc.440

3.Owner/builder421

4.Windemere Homes Inc.365

5.Divosta Building Corp.335

6.Lennar Homes Inc.292

7.WCI Communities Inc.287

8.U.S. Homes Corp.285

8.Waterford Construction Inc.285

10.Bruce Williams

General Contractors Inc.245

11.K.M. Development Corp.21712.AllState Builders158

13.Morrison Homes Inc.137

14.Kimball Hill Homes of Florida135

15.Westfield Homes123

16.First American Homes112

17.The Ryland Group Inc.110

18.Walker Homes Inc.107

19.Holiday Builders Inc.93

20.J&J Homes Inc.88

Top 20 Contractors

(by declared values)

BuildersValue

1.Lee Wetherington

Homes Inc.$75,295,113

2.WCI Communities Inc.$74,173,672

3.Centex Homes$70,523,874

4. Bruce Williams

General Contractors Inc.$67,392,922

5. Waterford Construction Inc.$45,135,318

6. Owner/builder$44,916,764

7. Divosta Building Corp.$44,907,886

8. U.S. Homes Corp.$39,615,839

9. K.M. Development Corp.$37,556,190

10. Lennar Homes Inc.$36,063,841

11. Windemere Homes Inc.$34,279,405

12. Morrison Homes Inc.$29,535,813

13. Kimball Hill Homes Fla.$28,845,304

14. Halfacre Construction Co.$24,839,857

15. M. Pete McNabb Inc.$23,190,354

16. Whitehall Homes Inc.$21,486,674

17. J&J Homes Inc.$18,051,476

18. John Cannon Homes Inc.$17,794,780

19. The Ryland Group Inc.$17, 372,770

20. AllState Builders$16,794,926