Shay Davis, left, and Eric Widner, with Renewal by Andersen Window Replacement, work Friday, March 10, 2017 at the Tri-State Home Show at the Chattanooga Convention Center.If you go
› What: 51st Tri-State Home Show.› When: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, March 10-11; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, March 12.› Where: Chattanooga Convention Center, 1150 Carter St.› Admission: $8 ages 17 and older daily admission; $13 multiday pass; $5 on Friday only for ages 60 and older. Receive a $1 ticket discount any day by bringing a canned good for donation to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank.› Website: www.HomeShowChattanooga.com
Residential building starts jumped 26 percent last year in the five-county Chattanooga area as employment grew to a record high after finally replacing all of the jobs lost during the Great Recession and its aftermath, according to MarketEdge, a service that provides building permit leads to those in the construction industry.
"Employment drives home starts and in 2016 the Chattanooga area finally made up for all of the jobs it lost in the previous decade and rose to a new all-time employment peak," said Dale Akins, president of MarketEdge in Knoxville.
In 2016, 2,247 residential building permits were issued in Hamilton and Bradley counties in Tennessee and in Catoosa, Whitfield and Walker counties in Georgia, up from 1,785 permits for residential construction in 2015.
The upswing doesn't surprise Billy McCoy, president of McCoy Homes, a business at 7550 East Brainerd Road founded in 1994 that remodels and builds homes around the Chattanooga area, including in three subdivisions that McCoy developed.
"You have your ups and downs, but it always comes back," said McCoy, as he helped run his business' booth at the 51st annual Tri-State Home Show being held this weekend at the the Chattanooga Convention Center.
More than 500 booths offer goods and services at the home show, which is sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Greater Chattanooga.
Also up nationwide is spending on improvements and repairs by both homeowners and rental property owners, which reached an all-time high of $340 billion in 2015, surpassing the prior peak in 2007, said a report released on Feb. 28 by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.
Older homeowners will continue to dominate the remodeling market, the Harvard researchers found, as baby boomers make investments to "age in place safely and comfortably." Expenditures by homeowners age 55 and over are expected to grow by nearly 33 percent by 2025, accounting for more than three-quarters of total gains over the decade, the Harvard study found.
Friday was seniors day at the home show, with a $3 discount on admission for those 60 and over.
"Friday is more seniors. There's a different demographic Saturday and Sunday," said Teresa Groves, an agent for Real Estate Partners who previously worked as director of the homebuilders' association. "Some people are downsizing. Some people come because they need to sell. It's a little bit of everything - they're getting ideas. Sometimes people come for specific things and some people just come to look to see what the new trends are."
McCoy said the home show leads to some jobs, but it's mainly a way to get his business' name out there.
"That, and meeting people," he said.
Meanwhile, the home show is a boon for Renewal by Andersen Window Replacement at 525 W. Main St., said its general manager Shay Davis.
"We do a lot of business out here," Davis said. "It kept us busy probably about three months of the year last year."
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or on Twitter @meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.