High growth anticipated for housing market

Spirit AeroSystems and Sanderson Farms are expected to revitalize not only the local job market, but also the area's housing market.

"It'll revolutionize Kinston's real estate market," said Shannon Foster, a vice president at Kinston's Foster Realty. "It'll put the realtor back on the street working, so to speak."

Foster said Thursday that about 400 homes are available in the Kinston and Lenoir County market now, but as more Spirit and Sanderson workers arrive in the next few years, that surplus will disappear and more house will need to be built.

"Right now we've got an abundance of listings," he said. "It's going to be the reverse once they start arriving; we're going to need listings."

The anticipated Kinston-Lenoir real estate boom has not yet happened, but rumblings have been heard among local officials.

Lenoir County Planning Coordinator Wayland Humphrey said his office has issued three permits to build subdivisions in the past 12 months.

Humphrey explained that the poor local economy, plus the recent downturn in the national housing market, has curtailed the amount of homebuilding in Lenoir County. The subdivisions that have been approved in recent years typically include 20-25 lots and are geared toward local buyers.

"The market, the way it's been, they just haven't gone out and constructed anything," he said.

Over the past six weeks, though, Humphrey has fielded many calls from out-of-town developers, asking about the county's building and zoning regulations.

He said he expected the first Spirit and Sanderson workers to buy out the county's existing stock.

"We probably will be able to handle the initial flux," Humphrey said.

The 28-lot Marion Heights subdivision, located along Banks School Road, is one of the projects approved before Spirit and Sanderson.

Carolyn Craig, a broker for developer Century 21/Harry Cummings Inc. of Kinston, said no houses have been built at Marion Heights yet, but the roads are paved and electric and plumbing service is in place.

She expected housing demand will be well beyond what her firm and others currently have available, and interest is already growing.

"We've had a number of people to call us that we'll be calling back just as soon as we get the price on these lots," Craig said.

Marion Heights is part of the increased development that has taken place in the northwestern part of the county in recent years, which Foster said is driven by families' desire to live within the Banks Elementary and North Lenoir High School district.

Since school districts are major drivers of residential development, Foster said he anticipates the growth will continue in northwestern Lenoir and Kinston.

"I hope that we'll work ahead of the demand, because the demand is going to be super-strong," said Craig.

David Anderson can be reached at (252) 559-1077, or danderson@freedomenc.com