The lots under option by Ryan are in Huber Heights, Springboro, Centerville, Fairborn, Beavercreek and Riverside, and are in addition to houses the company already has under construction throughout the area.
About 300 homes a year is consistent for the company, said Walt Hibner, executive director of the Dayton builders group.
Ryan has been able to maintain that level of construction because it builds low-cost, single-family homes that are in high demand. These homes start at about $110,000, Hibner said.
Local families can buy a new house from Ryan for about the same cost of an existing house as home prices in the region are still depressed, said Donna Cook, executive director of Home Builders Association of Miami County.
Home prices in the region averaged $123,000 in April, according to the Dayton Area Board of Realtors.
“Where we saw a significant drop off in the past couple years was that move-up market, that $225,00 to $300,000 range. That’s where our market was struggling to keep pace,” she said.
Last year 1,210 residential building permits were issued for single family homes in Darke, Greene, Montgomery, Preble and portions of Miami and Warren Counties, according to the builders group. Through April, permits for single-family homes totaled 444, up 22 percent from the same time last yearPaul Wishnok, Dayton division general manager for Ryan Homes, declined comment.
The continued success of Ryan Homes depends on its ability to control an adequate supply of finished lots to build on and developers’ ability to timely deliver finished lots to meet customer demand, according to the 2011 annual report of Ryan’s parent company, NVR Inc.
“However, current economic conditions and the continued downturn of the homebuilding industry have exerted pressure on our developers’ ability to obtain acquisition and development financing or to raise equity investments to finance land development activity, potentially constraining our supply of finished lots,”NVR said in the report.
Ryan homes is one of the main builders in Carriage Trails, Villages of Winding Creek in Clearcreek Twp., and Waterford Landing in Fairborn – three of the most active housing developments in Dayton and Cincinnati as measured by permits issued, according to NorthPointe Group, a Cincinnati real estate company that tracks permit data. Builders apply for permits when they’re close to starting construction of a house.
Houses at Waterford Landing are “clearly selling very fast,” said Keith Brane, city planner, and Chris Wimsatt, community development director, of Fairborn.
There are few homebuilders that are currently seeing as much success as Ryan, said Brane and Wimsatt, adding that Fairborn’s proximity to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, highways and retail is attracting a lot of attention from Ryan and other home builders.
Developers of Villages of Winding Creek, which straddles the Warren-Montgomery county line, are seeking approval to add more homes, said Jeff Palmer, Clearcreek Twp. planner.
Nearly 145 permits were already issued to the property as of April, Palmer said. Plans for Villages of Winding Creek call for a maximum 809 houses.
About 160 homes are built or under contract at Carriage Trails. Bill Jump, the developer, said 200 houses are expected to be out of the ground by the end of the year and if the market continues to improve, another 100 or more could be added in 2013.
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