Parade of Homes returns this weekend

Jun. 14—The Home Builders Association of Owensboro's 64th annual Parade of Homes returns Saturday and Sunday — and again on June 25-26.

Richard Stallings, executive director of the HBAO, said this year's Parade will feature 12 homes — the lowest number in decades.

But, he said, "The majority of them are custom built."

Eight builders are participating this year.

Jagoe Homes has four homes in the Parade, the most by any builder.

Stallings said, "They're building houses as fast as they can, but the reality is there's still a lot of strain on the supply side."

This year, he said, concrete is only available by allocation, and that's causing some delays.

Last month, EINPresswire.com said, "A multitude of factors have seriously impacted the concrete supply chain on a global scale. Cutbacks and maintenance delays during the pandemic continue to disrupt access to this prized building material. Labor is already scarce and more than 20 major cement plants in the United States are up for employment negotiations in 2022."

It added, "An ongoing shortage of licensed truck drivers means what little concrete plants produce is taking longer than usual to reach consumers. On top of all else, the demand has been extremely strong, with ongoing growth in both residential and commercial production projected to grow for years to come.

Benny Clark has been building homes for more than 40 years.

This year, his Homes by Benny Clark has a home on display at 5675 Lane Road.

"It's a custom home for a family with two kids," he said. "It has an open concept with a vaulted ceiling with beams, a smugglers pantry and a site for a future pool."

Clark said, "The biggest supply chain problem has been windows. There was a 21-week delay. Now, it's down to 12 to 14 weeks. There are always little bitty things that slow you down. Everybody is waiting on something."

But, he said, "We've learned to do things in a different way, so we're not losing time."

Stallings said, "Interest rates aren't an issue at this time. There are a tremendous number of people buying with cash from the sale of their homes."

Clark said, "People are trying to lock in interest rates now and when they come back down, they can refinance."

He said, "We have a full schedule for the year, building homes in Daviess, Hancock, Ohio and Henderson counties. A lot of people are getting land from their parents or grandparents to build on. And we're still doing a lot of forever homes, where people can age in place."

There's been a shortage of existing homes on the local market for several years now.

And more people are turning to new construction.

There is no charge to tour the homes.

The Parade's roots date back to Oct. 11, 1959, when the Home Builders Association introduced the concept to the community in an effort to stimulate home buying.

There was only one home that year, and it was built by a committee.

Last year, there were 13 homes.

The record was 29 in 2007, just before the Great Recession hit.

In some years, more than 2,000 people have visited some of the homes over the two weekends.

Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

Here are the homes in the Parade this year:

1. 6641 Summit DriveThe Summit

JMJ Custom Homes

2. 5675 Lane Road

Off Reid Road

Homes by Benny Clark

3. 5166 Jack Hinton RoadPhilpot

Homes by Mattingly

4. 4696 Forest RunBrownwood Oaks

Thompson Homes, Inc.

5. 5430 Hollow CovePark Haven

KSB Living

6. 3832 Brookfield DriveBrookfield

Jagoe Homes, Inc

7. 1724 Celebration Circle4200

Jagoe Homes, Inc

8. 2250 Deer Valley Blvd.Deer Valley

Jagoe Homes, Inc

9. 2250 Watson CircleBluegrass Commons

Jagoe Homes, Inc

10. 2388 Monroe Ave.Bluegrass Commons

Jagoe Homes, Inc

11. 6458 Thorn Ridge CrossingWoodland Ridge

Ballard Construction

12. 6400 Thorn Ridge CrossingWoodland Ridge

Millay Legacy Homes

Keith Lawrence, 270-691-7301, klawrence@messenger- inquirer.com