And, he added, approval times are long. “There’s a lot of different levels of government that you have to work through and its a very slow and onerous process.”
“It can take anywhere from five to eight years to go from concept to reality. And if you look at the number of new subdivisions being put in, in the Belleville area specifically, there aren’t that many new pieces that are available and shovel ready.”
“We have great products available in the Quinte area but it’s also a concern to us keeping projects affordable and meeting all the different and various housing needs. It has been a real struggle because people are coming from out of town and they have a little bit more money to pay for land and are more than willing to. And because supply is such a tight issue, people are paying more and more to have a place to call home.”
He explained that lumber is probably the prime example. The North American market is what lumber is dictated by.
The supply of lumber is a big problem because of a series of natural disasters, plant closures and COVID lockdowns at mills.
“We had a series of natural disasters. Fires, plant closures, then with the COVID lockdown a lot of mills and producers fell behind in their supply.”
And, of course, Van Huisen says, with people being at home during the pandemic the demand for home improvements is going through the roof.
