Sable Homes President John Bitely discusses local labor cost and availability in post-Great Recession era

It’s been about nine years since the Great Recession hit and while the market bounced back, developers are having a hard time keeping up with demand — they don’t have enough hands to build.

“There’s a lot of really good people that got wiped out in that terrible recession; we made it through,” Sable Homes President John Bitely told WZZM 13. But now, Bitely is dealing with different issues.

According to a survey by the National Association of Home Builders, the most significant problem builders are facing is cost and availability of labor. A problem proven in the numbers, the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics shows nearly 200,000 construction job openings in February 2017.

“With the downturn 6-8 years ago it was very discouraging, it was hard to get excited coming into the skilled trades,” Bitely said. “Now, we’re paying the price for it because no one was trained, nobody started into it, so we have a shortage.”

Read more about how local home builders, such as Sable Homes, are still rebounding after the Great Recession: http://on.wzzm.com/2oDSaOC