Residential Construction in 2021: New Opportunities and Familiar Challenges

While the pandemic has introduced new challenges for the world of construction, the residential housing market is currently benefiting from a resurgence in new homes being built. Now that we have all had a chance to review the previous year, homebuilders and distributors have expectations and predictions for 2021.

Last year, we saw many families make the choice to expand their living situations and upgrade to a house or move out of crowded cities. This was no doubt spurred by the increased amount of time that we were spending at home as opposed to work or social functions.

With the existing supply of homes expected to continue growing, the question then becomes: What should building materials distributors, contractors, and homebuilders be expecting for 2021?

Adapt to New Opportunities

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in residential construction rose in the fall and winter of last year. This is being driven by high demand for a limited supply of existing homes with companies looking to expand their ranks to meet these needs.

“In 2020, a large number of families made the decision to move out of crowded cities and take advantage of low mortgage rates,” says Paul Dean, L&W Supply Upper Midwest district manager. “For all of our teams working in heavy residential markets, this has been a very busy time for us, and we couldn’t be happier to respond to the needs of our customers.”

This shift towards residential construction has forced some distributors and contractors to learn to deal with regulations and work within labor markets that they may not have as much experience with. For L&W Supply, our network of branches has enabled us to share knowledge and resources allowing us to respond to the new needs of our customers while maintaining the same level of quality customer service, no matter what type of market the branch operates in.

Maintaining Customer Confidence

One of the key innovations that L&W Supply has adopted during this time is a new and improved Customer Service Delivery System. This system is designed to provide our customers with added assurance that their deliveries have been completed successfully.

“Our CSDS allows customers the ability to view proof of delivery photos, along with additional options for where materials were specifically delivered,” says Mark Hylland, Director of National Accounts on the residential side. “For residential construction, this can be particularly important given that you’re often dealing with complicated delivery schedules, and knowledge that materials have been delivered to the job site can reduce build time.”

In our markets with a large residential presence, our branch managers and associates have taken special precautions to ensure that we are able to meet the increased demand safely. For our organization, the CSDS is an example of one key innovation that we have developed to meet the evolving needs of our customers and partners.

Dealing with Uncertainty

Now more than ever, it is crucial to instill a sense of confidence in your customers that you will continue to improve your services to meet their needs.

If there’s one thing that our customers know about the future, it is that L&W Supply’s teams will work to meet their needs with transparency, delivering products on-time and accurately. To learn more about our Delivery Promise, visit this page: https://lwsupply.com/services/delivery-services/

Read more about Residential Housing in 2021:

https://www.builderonline.com/design/consumer-trends/six-single-family-trends-that-will-take-off-in-2021_o

https://www.builderonline.com/building/residential-construction-expands-in-second-home-markets_c