Lots of articles about our growth today. Like most growth in today's America, it's a total double-edged sword:
PA - Home-building Fees Sought to Ease Growth
Demand for homes continues in region
Sunday, April 16, 2006
BY DAN MILLER
Of The Patriot-News
Winding Hills. Stone Creek. North Ridge. The Preserve. Forest Ridge.
Everywhere you look in central Pennsylvania, a housing development is being built. Who is moving into all those new houses, and who is buying the existing homes being sold?
Many of the houses are sold to people who already live in the area, with families changing addresses as they need more space.
Home-ownership rates nationally are hovering at historic highs, which means people who once rented now own. And that trend has been helped by historically low interest rates, which, at just over 6 percent for a 30-year mortgage, are still much lower than a generation ago.
In addition, as planning experts point out, the midstate is north and west of some of the hottest housing markets in the country -- Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New Jersey. Those distances might seem like long commutes for many midstaters. But some people from those urban areas find they can get their castle on a larger piece of land in the midstate at a much lower price than where they live now.
Another factor is the aging population. Older people are among the fastest-growing groups buying homes in this area, observers said. These so-called "empty nesters" -- whether from the midstate or elsewhere -- are abandoning larger houses because their kids left home.
"They are downsizing, literally, in droves," said Nelson Keener, vice president of the new-homes division at Coldwell Banker Homesale Services Group. "Tens of thousands of people are going to turn 60 in the next 10 years. They are buying a lot of the new homes."
Many empty nesters seek out new housing developments marketed to people 55 and older. Such developments usually feature arrangements in which lawn maintenance, snow removal and other chores are handled for the residents.
In other cases, developers are building housing that "self-discriminates" against anyone younger than 55.
"I've had builders tell me they are looking for property where they can put semidetached, first-level bedroom master suites," Keener said. "You'll never see a sign that says 55-plus, but because of the style of the house, it is designed to interest and meet the needs of that couple."
Some new developments are big enough to be marketed to many demographic groups. That's the case with Winding Hills, being developed in Upper Allen Twp.
Winding Hills offers a neighborhood-type mix, with townhouses ranging from $190,000 to $240,000. The houses are clustered among traditional single-family homes and single-floor patio houses.
On the other end of the development, houses start in the $650,000 range and go up to $1 million.
John Yarnall, principal of Shaffer & Son Inc., estimated that 60 percent of the buyers of houses built by his company already live in this area. Shaffer & Son does most of its building in the Hershey and Hummelstown area, including developments such as Deer Run and Stone Creek in Derry Twp.
"Most of the people we are dealing with are all rooted in this area, and the majority of them have lived here all of their life," Yarnall said. "Everybody always thinks that everybody is living in a home, so all the new ones must be built for new people. But a lot of people still rent."
However, that pool of potential buyers keeps getting smaller. The home-ownership rate nationally has been increasing, reaching nearly 69 percent by the end of last year. In 1980, the rate was about 65 percent.
In Pennsylvania, the home-ownership rate is even higher -- 76.8 percent in 2004, according to the Pennsylvania State Data Center. That means less than a quarter of people rent.
Yarnall said several of his houses are sold to people who had moved away but are coming back, including the empty nesters who want smaller houses.
Only a small percentage are buyers who are new to the area, such as people lured here by jobs. Transplants often buy existing homes, Yarnall said. They don't have enough time to wait for a new house to be built.
Growth from the south:
Craig Zumbrun, executive director of the South Central Assembly for Effective Governance, monitors the growth trends. His group addresses regional issues such as housing and transportation.
The midstate market for new housing is largely being influenced by what is going on in Maryland and northern Virginia, Zumbrun said.
To curb development, some communities in Maryland have levied impact fees, which essentially are taxes on new houses. Communities also have imposed moratoriums that prohibit new building for environmental reasons. In addition, large blocks of land are set aside for preservation.
That means supplies of homes are more limited, pushing housing costs even higher in areas where prices already far outpace prices in the midstate. For decades, builders and residents alike have looked north of the Mason-Dixon Line for housing, often commuting long distances to their jobs.
On top of that, retired people from the Washington, D.C., area are moving into Franklin County and east to mid-Cumberland County, Zumbrun said. Pennsylvania doesn't tax their pension benefits, yet the retirees still can maintain their ties to Maryland.
York and southern York County are experiencing "a lot of push" from people relocating from the Baltimore area, Zumbrun said. Baltimore County restricts growth in its northern tier. So, for decades now, builders and residents have been driving up Interstate 83 and over the state line into southern York County. As land becomes unavailable and expensive there, house prices have been soaring, causing developers to look father north off the interstate.
Next door to York County is Adams County, which is north of Route 15 from Maryland. It now is the fastest-growing county in the state, with annual growth rates of 7 percent in each of the last three years, Zumbrun added.
Nationally known builders are looking to Pennsylvania because they can build large subdivisions easier and at much lower costs than in Maryland and northern Virginia, Zumbrun said. The result can be runaway growth.
"We get into a tax crisis on the local government level, such as in southern York County," Zumbrun said. "Three or four big subdivisions get approved and then you need a new elementary school. Who pays for it? The local people."
It was that sort of situation that led politicians in Maryland to approve impact fees, which local governments in Pennsylvania might consider. Real estate agents and builders often fight such efforts because it makes it harder for them to sell houses, Zumbrun said.
Meanwhile, Lebanon and eastern Dauphin counties are experiencing growth pushed by expansion west from the Philadelphia and Reading areas. Zumbrun said growth in the city of Lebanon is being fueled by what he described as an explosion of entrepreneurial development by the Hispanic community.
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