New Year’s Week (is that a thing? Should it be?) is a natural time to both look back at the year that was, and ponder the year to come.
The Journal of Commerce recapped 2023 HERE, including comments from ICBA president Chris Gardner on the port strike that choked supply chains.
Meanwhile, Site News has a longer piece, highlighting the thoughts of Chris and other industry leaders on 2023 and 2024, including this nugget:
The past few years have seen compounding crises. First COVID-19, then the shortage of people, then supply chain challenges and the historic escalation in materials costs, and most recently inflation and high interest rates. Through all of this, construction has been remarkably resilient. But economic and regulatory headwinds now slow our progress: Despite the demand for housing, higher interest rates and the impact on the cost of financing projects and mortgages have slowed residential construction. The prospect of interest rates easing in the second half of 2024 will provide some relief. While there is much uncertainty, both internationally and domestically, and a lot of reasons to be concerned about the outlook for 2024, we believe that work volumes, while softer than in the past few years, will remain relatively strong next year.
Also love to see Mike Maierle of ICBA member ETRO Construction in this piece:
I’m excited about the opportunities in all sectors with our continued population growth in Vancouver which is not only driving residential multi-family construction but also intuitional spaces for people to learn, play and create community. I remain concerned about how interest rates and record high household debt will impact our communities and remain very concerned about housing affordability for middle and lower income families.
