Big spenders aren't usually kept waiting, but the building industry is full of big-spenders who are just going to have to get used to it.
It hit me last spring as I stood on a sun-baked ridge in Royal Bay, a new development in Colwood overlooking Juan de Fuca Strait and the Olympic Mountains. I had been waiting to watch three truckloads of concrete fly into the walls of an insulated-concrete-form (ICF) house, but what I saw was that Vancouver Island's building boom has big-spenders cooling their heels.
Nary a week goes by that the media don't take the pulse or write up someone's prognostications on the robust new-home-construction industry.
And here on Vancouver Island, where the building community was painfully submerged in an ailing market through much of the 1990s, the pulse-taking can be confusing to consumers, and downright nerve-wracking to investors.
In February 2005, Times Colonist headlines read "Housing Starts Take Tumble," one month after we reported "New-housing starts in 2004 hit levels not seen since 1987." A month earlier, in December 2004, the headline was "Construction hot despite winter weather."
More recently, CMHC reported that housing starts on Vancouver Island have pulled out of an autumn slump. December 2005 starts counted at 357, lurching over November's 317 housing starts, but still significantly slower than the year before when 450 starts were reported.
We're talking to business and marketing analysts, as well as construction industry leaders all the time, yet look at how we boomerang when it comes to following the market. And if it's like this for us, what chance have you got?
As the Times Colonist Homes writer, I'm often asked what's the next big thing in new-home construction. My answer isn't any better than anyone else's, but I did get a glimpse of how hot the building industry has become that day at Royal Bay, when Pat Caporale, a leader in Vancouver Island ICF construction, invited me to watch the birthing of an ICF house.
"The trucks are coming at 11," Caporale said confidently, when I asked what time I should show up. I, being just a regular homeowner-type person, never expect anyone connected with the building industry to show up when they say they will, even less so if they're co-ordinating the arrival of three trucks.
When I said as much to Caporale, he told me he's a good customer, meaning he's not a nickel-and-dime consumer in the local concrete market. Following the principle that no smart operator keeps a big spender waiting, Caporale had every reason to expect that if he'd been promised the trucks would arrive at 11, they would arrive at 11. He was so sure, even I believed him.
And so I found myself picking my way through a churned-up construction site on a sunny day, checking out the ocean and forest views while a construction crew readied the site.
Eleven o'clock came and went, and even though I have a fairly boundless appetite for beautiful views, I began to feel like I was relaxing a bit too much for someone on the clock. So I gingerly stepped down the chopped-up slope and chatted with the crew. Still no trucks.
I clambered back up the slope. The TC photographer and I started to muse about whether the trucks were coming at all. Of course, they did arrive, but they were very late.
So, while the housing-start figures vary from month to month, this is the way it is on the ground at construction sites across this Island. Every supplier, every manufacturer, every tradesman, every builder is scrambling to keep up with demand.
Browse through our own pages and you'll see the Island is good not only for growing trees, but also communities, as one new housing development after another springs up.
And so we at the Times Colonist are bringing you a New Homes section, to run every Wednesday, starting next week. We'll look to industry insiders for the scoop on architecture, urban planning and innovative new home technologies.
We'll go indoors to show you all there is to see in new-home design and decor. Building new homes often means building whole new communities.
As consumers show a preference for neighbourhoods that cater to their lifestyles, amenity developments have emerged. We'll look at communities tailored to recreational pursuits, such as golfing or beachfront communities.
You can take the steering wheel on this page, too, by writing or calling me. Let me know what you want to know, and I'll find out.
I may end up spending a lot of time at construction sites waiting with builders for material deliveries, but this is the Island. The weather is fine and the views are always outstanding. This is going to be fun and I hope you'll come along for the ride.
NEXT WEEK: Got gates? Developer Michael Volk brings the West Shore -- and maybe all of Victoria -- its first gated community. We'll take you there.