Home builders taking chances in Jefferson County

The housing market in Jefferson County is heating up. The number of building permits issued so far this year is nearly 10 times the amount issued during the depths of the recession.

Rick Allen, a longtime area broker, said builders are taking chances they haven’t taken in years. Allen is representing 27 spec homes being built by Arbor Builders.

“A spec home is, to a degree, taking a risk,” Allen said Tuesday. “They’re building, not knowing if there’s a buyer and when it will sell.”

Allen said building homes without anyone lined up to purchase them was unheard in the Madras area of during the recession. But that’s all changing and the risk is paying off. One of the housing developments he represents in Madras, Kinkade Crossing, is selling fast, he said — in some cases before the houses are even built.

“(The houses sell) once we get them on the market and we get a (home) built out,” Allen said. “People kind of like to walk by and look at a little something. That helps, but we also sell them before we’ve even dug them out.”

The 12 homes in the development are in various stages of construction, and people, including Jim Cappa, are lining up to buy them.

“You can see the house there,” Cappa said. “It’s not even done and it’s already sold. And ours was sold before they got it built, too. So, it’s a wonderful place to live.”

Allen said Bend and Redmond bounced back from the recession first, and now the outlying towns are starting to take off.