News
February 8, 2022 - ECI Software Solutions, a leader in cloud-based business management solutions, today released findings from a Residential Home Construction industry survey that examined the impact of economic challenges – such as supply chain delays and material shortages – on U.S. home builders and their expectations for business in 2022.
Throughout 2021, home builders were faced with a multitude of challenges as an output of the pandemic. Between increased demand for single-family homes and a lack of materials to meet those demands, home builders were faced with obstacles that were oftentimes out of their control.
According to the survey, four out of 10 (43%) builders admitted that demand outpaced their organization’s ability to meet it at some point in 2021. But despite a myriad of challenges, most home builders (55%) built more homes in 2021 than the previous year. And having managed through the pandemic for the past two years, they are optimistic for 2022: 72% expect to build more homes this year and of those, 23% expect to build much more.
Home builders ranked the pandemic as the number one threat to their business, which led many to implement various changes across their organization, like making more conservative financial decisions (42%) and increasing prices (38%). Not as many home builders increased their investment in technology (22%), which may have been helpful as they focused on meeting demand and maintaining margins. In fact, the builders who saw the most revenue growth in 2021 were also most likely to have increased their investment in technology to run their business, specifically: project management tools (68%), contract management software (54%) and CRM (54%).
As it relates to technology use in general, many homebuilders are not taking advantage of software and technology available to manage and grow their businesses. Among those who do, the most popular systems were project management (60%), home builder software (51%), contractor management (47%) and customer relationship management software (36%).
“It’s great to see that many home builders have managed through the supply chain chaos and labor issues of the past two years and are taking advantage of the huge demand for housing,” said Scott Duman, president of ECI’s Residential Home Construction Group. “Not all builders are coping as well, and there’s a case to be made for technology investments that can help them better manage operations and keep a tighter rein on supplies, schedules, and costs. Home builders should also keep a close eye on interest rates and affordability and take caution for over-building.”
Additional findings:
Survey Methodology
Commissioned by ECI Software Solutions, Researchscape surveyed 300 U.S. residential home builders in January 2022.
ECI Software Solutions provides cloud-based business software for running small and mid-sized businesses end to end. Built by experts in manufacturing, residential construction, building supply, office technology and wholesale/retail distribution industries, ECI's industry-specific software connects businesses and customers, improving visibility, operational efficiency and profitability. With ECI, businesses seamlessly integrate sales and marketing, business intelligence, CRM, data and analytics, ecommerce, mobile apps and payment processing. With more than 30 years of industry leadership, ECI is trusted by 25,000 customers in more than 80 countries globally. Headquartered in Westlake, Texas, it has offices in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and Australia. For more information, visit www.ECIsolutions.com.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.