New home applications are down, and one of the causes may be surprising – America’s oil boom
Construction companies that build homes for Americans in some states are losing skilled workers to six-figure jobs offered by oil companies.
This scenario is unfolding in the oil boom states of North Dakota, Texas and Colorado, where there’s big demand for new homes, but few workers to build them, according to a report by CNNMoney.
Even when a new employee is hired for a home construction job, it's often not long before he's poached by an oil company. Recruiters are also scoping out truck stops and offering drivers $10,000 signing bonuses to take gigs driving for the oil companies.
"If you can pass a drug test and have a truck license, you can earn $100,000 a year driving an oil truck,” Granger MacDonald, owner of The MacDonald Cos., said in an interview with CNNMoney.
In Colorado and Texas, housing demand has lead to a competitive market for buyers. Redfin reported earlier this year that more than 20% of homes on the market are sold in less than three days.
Meanwhile, mortgage applications for new home purchases remained unchanged in September compared to August, according to Mortgage Bankers Association Builder Application Survey data for September 2014. The MBA estimated new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 425,000 units in September. In August, new home purchases plummeted 9% from the July level.
This scenario is unfolding in the oil boom states of North Dakota, Texas and Colorado, where there’s big demand for new homes, but few workers to build them, according to a report by CNNMoney.
Even when a new employee is hired for a home construction job, it's often not long before he's poached by an oil company. Recruiters are also scoping out truck stops and offering drivers $10,000 signing bonuses to take gigs driving for the oil companies.
"If you can pass a drug test and have a truck license, you can earn $100,000 a year driving an oil truck,” Granger MacDonald, owner of The MacDonald Cos., said in an interview with CNNMoney.
In Colorado and Texas, housing demand has lead to a competitive market for buyers. Redfin reported earlier this year that more than 20% of homes on the market are sold in less than three days.
Meanwhile, mortgage applications for new home purchases remained unchanged in September compared to August, according to Mortgage Bankers Association Builder Application Survey data for September 2014. The MBA estimated new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 425,000 units in September. In August, new home purchases plummeted 9% from the July level.
