Industry News

Just as Route 66, the ‘Mother Road’ that once coursed through San Bernardino County promised a new life for thousands of Dust Bowl refugees, today another road following much the same route is poised to guide San Bernardino County - and especially the Victor Valley - back to economic vitality.

From the boom years of the mid - 2000s to the housing challenges of the past two years, six Interstate 15 (I-15) corridor cities and adjacent unincorporated areas of the Inland and Victor valleys (Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, Hesperia, Victorville, and Apple Valley) have consistently accounted for between over half to two - thirds of all the single and multi - family permits issued in the Baldy View region, which encompasses all of San Bernardino and eastern Los Angeles counties.

While figures emerging in the first two quarters of 2009 offer cautious optimism, the trend remains solid as I - 15 corridor cities accounted for over two - thirds of the Baldy View region’s 1,079 single - and multi - family permits issued in the first six months of 2009, according to data provided by the Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB).

While San Bernardino County builders today confront historic challenges of bottomed - out land values, construction loan issues, inventory gluts, ‘shadow impacts’ of foreclosures and foreclosure moratoria, and new environmental regulations, home builders looking towards the future can start preparing now for a new homebuilding market that will again be dominated by the Victor Valley. 

“Victor Valley home building will come back - absolutely, 100 percent,” said BIABaldy View Government Affairs Vice President Todd Leibl of Victory Homes, Inc.

As the regional economy ticks toward recovery, Southern California homebuilders and homebuyers are again looking towards the Victor Valley to anchor a new housing market thanks to twin attractions of the I-15 corridor and generous amounts of buildable land in the Victor Valley.

As economic prosperity looms in the future, “the Victor Valley will continue to be the most affordable region,” said award - winning homebuilder Ira Norris, CEO of Horizon Communities. Norris, a former BIA President, said that cities in the Inland, San Bernardino, and Pomona valleys continue to approach build out, while in the High Desert “land is in long supply.”