Home building surged in Sandwich in 2022; city official, local builder expect positive trend to continue this year

The city of Sandwich issued 42 permits for new single-family homes in 2022.

That level of residential construction activity is the greatest that Todd Steffens said he has seen in his seven years on the job as the city building official.

Steffens said when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020 many homebuilders’ plans fell through and new home construction all but stopped. But that changed in a big way last year.

Steffens said that before last year, the most permits he had issued for new homes in a single year was five. He said he already has issued five permits for new homes in the first two months of this year.

All of the permits that Steffens issued last year were for new single-family homes in four subdivisions.

Ryan Homes was responsible for 39 of the 42 new homes last year, all of which were in the Fairwinds subdivision on the northwest side of the city, west of Castle Street near Prairie View Elementary School.

Indian Valley Vocational Center students are continuing work on a new home in Dutch Acres, a subdivision southeast of the intersection of Sandy Bluff and Griswold Springs Roads on the east side of the city.

Thomas Builders is building one house in the Sandhurst subdivision on the east side of Latham Street on the city’s north side. Homebuilder L.T. Pfaff built one home in the Fieldcrest subdivision on Bender Street, also on the city’s north side.

There were no new subdivisions started last year, and none are on the horizon for 2023, Steffens said. While most subdivisions are nearly built out, there still are empty lots in Fairwinds subdivision. Finney Homes will build homes on some of those lots, he said.

Finney Homes broke ground on its first home in Sandwich home in February, and the firm has plans for another to get underway, both in the Fairwinds subdivision.

Keith Almady started Finney Homes in 2019, but has been building homes for more than a decade. He believes there definitely is a need for new homes in the Sandwich area.

Almady said that in the past four years, Finney Homes has built about a dozen homes a year in Elgin, Sycamore, Courtland and Genoa, and he was attracted to Sandwich after seeing the success Ryan Homes was having.

“A lot of the builders were preparing for the worst, expecting the economy to completely shut down, and the exact opposite happened.”

—  Keith Almady, Finney Homes

Finney Homes purchased five lots in the Fairwinds subdivision last winter. Almady said he hopes to build out all five lots this year and believes that is a realistic goal, based on the interest he is seeing from buyers.

Finney Homes’ first Sandwich location is on Pleasant Street, and Almady said he expects it to be complete by early July.

Almady said he has noticed in recent years the market shift towards smaller homes. He said 10 to 15 years ago, most buyers wanted larger homes with more square footage. He said the majority of the homes he builds are ranch homes, as many of his buyers are looking to downsize after their kids have moved out and are looking for less home to maintain and want smaller tax and utility bills.

“A lot of Baby Boomers are starting to hit the retirement age and they don’t need or want the big houses anymore,” Almady said. “People are finally buying houses that are the right size for them.”

Almady said the effect of the pandemic was one of the “strangest things” he has seen in his building career.

“A lot of the builders were preparing for the worst, expecting the economy to completely shut down, and the exact opposite happened,” Almady said. “Business has been pretty steady and very busy since COVID-19.”

Almady said while climbing interest rates seemed to have stunted the market over the winter, he is optimistic that it was just the slow season, as his business has seen an uptick in the new year. He said he expects to build 20 houses this year and said he would not be surprised to see county and statewide increases this year.