WANT TO REMODEL? GET IN LINE FOR HELP CONTRACTORS, OVERCOME BY DEMAND, HAVE WAITING LISTS FOR CLIENTS.

Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- While headlines announce the slowing of home sales, remodeling of existing houses continues to boom, with long waiting lists for contractors.

``The demand is great. You can't find enough good tradesmen to help you with your job, so you have to schedule projects further out,'' said Randal Winter, owner of Randal G. Winter Construction Inc., based in Newhall. ``If someone called today and wanted a job done, they'd have to wait two to three months before their job could actually start.''

From June 2005 to June 2006, the city issued 6,585 building permits for construction and remodels, including electrical and plumbing work. The prior year, 7,835 permits were issued. The figures include both residential and commercial projects.

The majority of Winter's projects are home and office remodels in Valencia's Northpark and Northbridge, Stevenson Ranch, Saugus and Newhall. He has become more selective, favoring old clients and referrals over new customers.

A Realtors' trade group says the frenzy of local home sales in 2003 has flattened in recent months, most notably for higher-priced homes. The average 2003 sales price was nearly $350,000; by 2005 it had risen to $508,000, according to the Southland Regional Association of Realtors Inc.

From 2001 to 2005, more than 76 percent of listed homes sold, but a report issued by the group shows the number has dropped to an average of about 42 percent in 2006.

Lance Williams, president of Williams Homes, a small local builder, said the overall supply of new homes has been pretty tight in 2006.

``Everything was absorbed in 2005. The finished lots developed by master builders were absorbed twice as fast in 2004 and 2005, as expected,'' he said.

Today, he sees a gap in the pipeline of new homes. While 2006 sales of higher-end homes -- those costing more than $700,000 -- are cooling, entry-level homes, priced between $350,000 and $500,000, are robust, Williams said.

The 60 homes Williams will build this year are expected to generate $30 million in revenue. The 90 lower-priced homes due to be built in 2007 should bring in $40 million, he said.

The lower interest rates offered in the past three to four years have motivated many homeowners itching for larger quarters or more spiffy amenities to acquire a second mortgage to finance renovations instead of buying up.

``It's cheaper to do that than it is to move,'' said Mike Bjorkman, a Re/Max real estate agent. ``Their property tax would go up if they were to move. So their solution is to take a portion of their equity for a couple of hundred dollars (added to their monthly payment) -- a couple hundred more is cheaper than $2,000 more a month.''

He says face-lifts are most common in homes built in the early to mid-1990s.

The demand for commercial projects declined after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but since 2004 it has been rising, a local builder said.

``It's very much an up economic environment,'' said Rod Shreckengost, vice president of field operations for Intertex General Contractors, one of the largest commercial construction and development companies in the Santa Clarita Valley. The company's recent projects in the Centre Pointe Business Park will be followed by others in Bridgeport and Hasley Canyon. ``Across the board in our business locally, we're seeing upward of a 50 percent increase in our volume of construction.''

From the outside looking in, some see the city as golden. ``Santa Clarita is L.A.'s answer to Irvine,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. ``You have a lot of land for new development, the commercial and industrial (projects) we're getting are very high-quality, Santa Clarita is a good location for business, everything is nicely planned and the schools are focused on turning out good students.''

The LAEDC has named Santa Clarita among the top five business-friendly cities in the county, and a Money magazine survey released last month ranked Santa Clarita No. 18 out of 100 in a comparison of the best small cities nationwide. Kyser said well-planned cities like Santa Clarita and Irvine should age nicely, whereas cities like Los Angeles, which have grown up helter-skelter, are facing challenges in building new housing.

``In L.A., you see residences go in east of downtown where it is heavy industrial, with no amenities -- they want to build million-dollar condos, but this is not the best location for million-dollar residences,'' he said. ``Where are you going to walk you dog? Where you going to eat? In Santa Clarita, you have parks, broad streets; it's very attractive.''

judy.orourke(at)dailynews.com

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INFORMATION

The city will host a workshop in which key features of a proposed affordable housing program will be discussed.

Community members are invited to share their ideas with city staff members and a consultant who has been hired to draft the law. Topics will include affordable housing incentives and density bonuses for builders.

The meeting will be held 6-8 p.m. Wednesday in the Century Room at City Hall, 23920 Valencia Blvd. For information, call Aimee Schwimmer at [phone], or e-mail her: aschwimmer(at)santa-clarita.com.

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The city of Santa Clarita gets lots of tax revenue from const ruction like the Gateway project.

David Crane/Staff Photographer

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INFORMATION (see text)