Fox 17 talks with Sable Homes’ John Bitely about housing crisis

Home construction in 2020 is off to a booming start in Michigan. But the Home Builders Association of Michigan warns about a looming housing crisis.

“We’re on fire, we’re building a lot of homes. A lot of buyers are buying homes,” John Bitely, president of Rockford-based Sable Homes, told Fox 17. “But there’s a real shortage and it’s getting worse. The public really hasn’t felt the impact of that yet.”

Bitely explained a shortage of buildable lots and burdensome regulations are making things difficult for builders.

In a new Sable Homes subdivision in Algoma Township, Bitely explained only one house is available to purchase, everything else is either sold or on order to put in the ground with people waiting for them.

In addition, many local municipalities make it even harder to build affordable homes.

“It takes probably three years to get through all the bureaucracy, to get a neighborhood like this approved,” Bitely said during his interview with Fox 17. “We’re one of most affordable builders in all West Michigan and we struggled to produce a house on a lot for $200,000 – we just can’t get lots from municipalities to let us build them.

“They want what they want, and we either figure out a way to give them that and they quite often push for higher-priced homes,” he added. “They don’t really care that much if working class America has an affordable home.”

Read the full Fox 17 story, here.