Talk about lousy timing.

Developer Bobby Ingels was sworn in recently as 2008 board president of the Housing and Building Association of Colorado Springs.

That means he’s the major voice for an industry that went through a bumpy year in 2007 and that some local economists speculate will be in for more of the same this year.

Home builders, developers and contractors, however, are glasshalf-full kinds of people, and their industry has been through tougher times. Though single-family building permits fell by 38 percent to 2,135 in 2007, some home builders remember when a measly 741 permits were issued in 1990.

Local home construction reached record levels in 2004 and 2005, Ingels said. As a result, last year’s downturn looks even worse by comparison.

“The thing we have to keep in context is that those years we’re comparing to were some of the best years we’ve ever done in Colorado Springs,” Ingels said. “Maybe those years were a little overheated.”

Ingels grew up in a small northern Missouri town where his father sold cars and developed residential property. Ingels graduated from Northwest Missouri State in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in finance, worked for his dad for a few years and then followed a brother to Colorado Springs in 1984.

He was a superintendent for R.E. Monks Construction, worked for the Metex special taxing district that built much of Powers Boulevard on the Springs’ east side and later returned to R.E. Monks.

In 1990, Ingels went to work as a development manager for Vintage Communities, the original developer of Briargate on the Springs’ north side. He was land development director for La Plata Investments when the company took over Briargate in the mid-1990s.

Ingels formed his own residential and commercial development company in 2000. His projects include Mesa Pointe, a development of 18 upscale patio homes on the city’s scenic northwest side. He’s currently developing Jackson Heights, a mixed-used project in South Fork, on the west edge of Colorado’s San Luis Valley.

While home builders get a lot of attention, developers are a big part of the Housing and Building Association, he said.

“I think what I like most about it is being able to see it when it’s done,” Ingels said about development. “It’s a long process that sometimes can be a contentious one. But when you’re done, I think most developers would agree that they really like going by something they’ve been a part of and say ‘I did that and I’m really proud of that.’”

Ingels, 56, is married and has a son and a daughter.

Question: Housing construction slowed significantly in 2007. Why?

Answer: After several very good years, I think the market finally caught up with itself. (Economist) Dave Bamberger had been forecasting that due to the low interest rates we were borrowing buyers from the future. As news of the subprime mortgage issues increased and credit standards tightened, the market slowed.

Q: How does the slowdown in 2007 compare with the housing downturn of the late 1980s?

A: A couple of significant differences. In the ’80s the interest rates were very high. Adjustable rates and buy-downs were a problem then, as now. I don’t think we are as overbuilt now as we were then.

Q: What’s the outlook for home construction in 2008?

A: It depends on who you want to believe. I have read everything from end of first quarter ’08 to the end of ’08. I think we will recover a little earlier than the nation as a whole. When it does start to recover, things will move ahead cautiously from both the builder and buyer perspectives.

Q: Prices have fallen the past few months in the resale market. What do you expect to happen with prices for resales and new construction in 2008?

A: I think there will be some additional adjustments in the resale market. The new markets that have reduced prices were the extremely hot markets, like Las Vegas and a few others, where home values appreciated at a doubledigit rate. I think media hype about pricing has caused some buyers to take a wait-and-see approach, hoping that prices may fall. The fact is, it’s a great time to buy a new home.

Q: What must happen in the local, state and national economies for the pace of new-home construction to improve in the Pikes Peak region?

A: I think the credit markets are going to have to calm down some before we see any sense of normalcy.

Q: Can home builders do anything to bring more traffic in the door, close more contracts and build more homes?

A: Most of the builders and the association are increasing their advertising and showcasing their products in an attempt to assure potential buyers that it is good time to buy.

Q: El Paso County single-family building permits exceeded 5,000 in both 2004 and 2005, and set a record in 2005. Will we see 5,000 annual permits again?

A: I think we will see 5,000-permit years again. This has always been a cyclical business and will continue to be.

Q: Has the housing slowdown had an effect on commercial construction?

A: Most of what I hear about the commercial market is good. Most times, the commercial market lags behind the residential market in a neighborhood due to the fact that the commercial development needs rooftops to help create the market. We are seeing that lag now. I would assume that, at some point, the commercial construction will catch up and need additional residential development to occur.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0228 or rich.laden@gazette.com. Questions and answers are edited for space and clarity.