Leading Question

>>Workers are doing more for less pay, but it isn’t necessarily showing up on the bottom line.

Dennis Cantwell, president of Estero-based Sand Springs Development, has seen labor costs decline by nearly 40 percent. A Naples home on the Gulf that he built in late 2008 was $42,000 cheaper in labor costs than a similar-sized nearby Gulf residence that had been started earlier in the year—a result of more people wanting work, as long as it pays more than unemployment compensation.

Material costs vary, though, and are largely dependent on oil prices. Significant price drops in the past year include 30 percent for steel, about 10 percent for cement and around 7 percent for drywall, says Richard Durling, president and owner of Fort Myers-based Marvin Development Corp.

The declines are due in part to waning demand for materials worldwide, including in China, says Durling. A couple of years ago, China was "driving the high numbers for steel and concrete." Now that it’s feeling effects of the global economic woes, construction is slowing down, he says. As fuel costs dropped in late 2008, some companies eliminated fuel surcharges as well, giving more relief to local developers.

Notwithstanding any major changes in oil prices, material prices are expected to level off or slightly decline, says Mark Stevens, president of Fort Myers-based Stevens Construction, a commercial contracting company. But he admits that factors change daily.

"I can’t fathom that it can go much further, but, geez, who thought that the stock market would do what it did? We’re in such turmoil," he says.