PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Looking to buy or build a new home? Construction companies across south Florida say the high demand for new projects, coupled with a labor shortage, is delaying the completion of homes and increasing prices, from Palm Beach County to the Treasure Coast and beyond.
At Garcia and Sons Construction in Port St. Lucie, CEO Juan Moya sees the demand for new homes and other construction projects firsthand.
“There’s like, double digits moving to Port St. Lucie, so it’s been crazy," Moya said.
While that's normally a good thing for Moya, lately, he said he can't find enough workers to keep up with that demand.
“It is hard to find new, skilled laborers," Moya said. "Skilled laborers is the key word. It’s scarce."
It's a problem for Greg Batista, the owner of G Batista Engineering and Construction in Fort Lauderdale.
Batista said his company has been impacted by the recent exodus of undocumented workers, prompted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' signing ofSenate Bill 1718, which, for one, cracks down on businesses that hire undocumented workers. While he hasn't had any of his own employees leave, Batista said he's been impacted secondhand.
“You have a lot of workers, particularly in roofing, landscaping, and the tiling, that are Hispanics, they’ve come in from other places," Batista said. "I've seen my workforce affected also.”
That shortage of workers comes on the heels of ashortage of construction materials, the effects of which are still lingering.
"I had two jobs, large jobs, where they said, 'Look, the materials went up, we don't have the supply,'" Batista said.
According to the Home Builders and Contractors Association of Florida's Space Coast, the labor and construction material shortage is delaying the completion of projects. Houses that used to take 12 months to build now can take 15 months to complete, also pushing up the price of a new home by 20% or more.
"Exactly," Moya said, "as most businesses, we have to increase our prices to keep up.”
Moya said he's had to increase prices by 30 to 60% just to keep up with the insurance hikes from delayed jobs, the inflation of materials, and increases in salaries to retain and recruit good workers.
"It’s all over the place, but all we can do is accommodate for the times," Moya said.
He and Batista said they are staying positive: the one message they drill home is that foundations may be set in stone, but the economy, and its impact on construction, never is.
"Fortunately, we are able to show the client and be transparent," Moya said, "and they're willing to pay higher prices, because of our reputation."
Moya said one thing that is helping is the interest rate hikes, which he said has been helpful in controlling the inflation of materials.