By the numbers
* 17 percent: Yearly gain in home starts projected for next year * $192.2 million: Estimated income generated in Hamilton County last year from home construction * 2,796: Jobs created by home construction last year in Hamilton County Source: National Association of Home Builders
National Association of Home Builders Chairman Ed Brady.Home construction is up nationally, but it’s still only at about half the level of a normal, healthy market, the chairman of the National Association of Home Builders said Tuesday in Chattanooga.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” said NAHB Chairman Ed Brady, a homebuilder and developer from Bloomington, Ill. “Obviously, homebuilding is better. It’s not great.”
The national rate mimics the local market of single-family home starts almost exactly, said Jay Bell, owner of Bell Development in Chattanooga.
“It’s still not nearly back to what we need to be building,” said Bell.