SPRING HILL, Tenn. - Both builders and realtors in Maury County said Monday's GM announcement to put the Spring Hill plant on idle by the end of the year adds uncertainty to a real estate market that's already in a lull.
"Yes, [Monday's] announcement is going to have an impact," said RE/MAX broker John Pegram. "I'd like to say it's not, but it really is going to have an impact."
The real estate broker thinks all homeowners in Spring Hill will suffer, not just GM workers.
"I mean, idle is a little different from knowing the plant is going to re-open," he told News 2. "I feel pretty certain that [home] values will drop because of the news."
Builder Mal Giffe of Mallory Group Construction said lately he has been spending most of his time on custom projects and has gotten away from building homes in Spring Hill.
"I've been sitting on some lots for a year, you know, I haven't built anything in a year just because the way the market has been," Giffe said.
At the height of the real estate market, Giffe "would sell [homes] in the framing stage, we didn't have much worries when the market was good, but now it's a different story."
Giffe believes Monday's announcement adds to the troubles of a slow real estate market, where some neighborhoods are unfinished
"I think it is going to make people more reluctant to buy, or build or be in that area," Giffe told News 2.
Pegram said the uncertainty about the Spring Hill GM plant coupled with the tough economy means people who purchased homes at the height of the market may face a home value drop of 15% to 40%.
"They either need to just sit tight and wait for the values to re-grow, or just take the losses," Pegram advised.
The availability of cheap homes could actually lure people to the formerly-sleepy town on the Maury-Williamson county line.
"The values will drop, I think the bargain shoppers will come out of places like Brentwood, Franklin and Nashville, and come back to the bedroom community of Spring Hill," said Pegram.
Production at the GM plant in Spring Hill is scheduled to cease in the fourth quarter of 2009.
The facility is in the running to build the next generation small car GM had originally planned to build in China.
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