Since Davidson Realty recently listed ICI Homes’ properties in Palencia, I decided to pop my head into Don Wilford’s office and say hi. Don is a third generation builder who started with ICI Homes as a construction manager over 30 years ago. He worked his way up to ICI’s North Florida Division President. Needless to say, he has experienced many changes in the real estate market over the years. He has seen it up and he has seen it down…so I value his opinion on the state of the market!  

When I asked Don how he was feeling about the market,  he shared he believes new construction prices have bottomed out and are starting to go up slightly. He said new construction will not go lower and he predicts that construction costs will rise at least 10% by the end of 2010. Many consumers must agree because there has been an increase in sales activity. ICI sold 10 homes in January – and six of them were new builds with an average price of $500,000. This means ICI sold more new builds in January 2010 than they did in all of 2009! (more…)