By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Manteca new housing leader in SJC for 16th straight month
HOMES4-4-10-10
Crews from Production Framing work on installing new insulated wood on the roof of a house under construction in the Woodside Homes neighborhood off Van Ryn Road. - photo by HIME ROMERO/The Bulletin
Pulte Homes started 19 new homes in the firm’s Del Web at Woodbridge neighborhood in North Manteca during March.

That was one more home started in the age-restricted community than Lathrop, Tracy, Ripon, Lodi and Escalon combined managed to start in the first two months of 2010 and six more that in the entire City of Stockton during January and February.

Altogether there were 41 new homes started in Manteca during March.

It marks at least the 16th straight month Manteca has topped all jurisdiction in San Joaquin County in housing starts. It underscores how Manteca has position itself in terms of how the 3.9 percent growth cap and development agreements impact infrastructure investments as well as the amenities the city has put in place.

The constraints of the growth cap coupled with development agreements that were seen as vital by developers to secure sewer allocations meant builders had to be more deliberate in planning their infrastructure investments. As a result, most Manteca builders didn’t get ahead of the market by overbuilding.

At the same time it has provided them with a backlog inventory of 957 build-able lots as of Feb. 1. While that represents a good deal of working capital in the ground that they have yet to get back, it also means they don’t have to have a big investment to go forward with building homes which is not the case in many surrounding jurisdictions. It has allowed developers to keep building in Manteca to essentially snap up the bulk of the demand of well-positioned new home buyers.

Developers - such as Raymus Homes: The Next Generation - which don’t have subdivisions ready to go, believe the city’s five-year suspension of bonus bucks collected for sewer allocations uncertainty will make new investment in infrastructure  pencil out sooner. That means if everything goes according to the strategy mapped out by developers and municipal leaders, Manteca will keep having steady growth as the backlog of build-able lots dwindle.

That helps to keep the weakened construction trades - the top source of private sector blue collar jobs in Manteca - going while at the same time providing a steam stream of revenue to the city without requiring expansion of basic services.

The 41 homes started in Manteca during March had an average of 2,520 square feet. That’s just over 1,000 square feet more than the average size of a new house being sold when the new home market hit bottom in Manteca in December 2007 through March 2008.

The average construction price of the Manteca homes started in March was $149,866. That is construction only and excludes everything from land and marketing costs to infrastructure and lot preparation as well as growth fees in excess of $42,000 leveled on a typical new home in Manteca.

Manteca has now started 152 housing units in the first three months of March.

There were 111 housing units started in Manteca during January and February including the 52-unit affordable seniors’ apartment complex being built on North Main Street behind Dribble’s Car Wash and Burger King.

Lathrop started 16 new housing units in the first two months  of 2010 followed by the unincorporated areas of San Joaquin County with 14, Stockton with 13, and Tracy with two. Ripon, Lodi, and Escalon did not issue a single housing permit in January or February.