A new report by the National Homebuilding Association grading industry confidence shows the South as the only region with signs of an upward trend. But that trend may be hard to find in the Georgia homebuilding industry.

And Matt Bell says he just doesn’t see it.

“A smaller local builder, or even a regional builder…I just don’t see any pickup.”

Bell is project manager with Bell Construction, which builds custom homes in the northeast Georgia region.

He says if there’s any positive movement, it’s probably only for some of the major stock-traded builders.

Bell says for his company, business is down 90-percent during the recession. As example, his company typically builds 30 or so custom homes in a year. This year, they’ve built two, with a couple remodels thrown in.

And Bell says banks are not giving the smaller builders a fair shake.:

“There’s a lot of good builders out there who got caught up in this stuff and even if you had to go back to the past couple of years of work performed and income…of course it’s going to be down. So somehow they’re going to have to look past that, because of what we all went through.”

The National Association of Home Builders says across the board, consumers are still reluctant to buy new homes in the current economic climate.

Tags: economy, northeast Georgia, foreclosures, National Association of Home Builders, Bell Construction, housing industry