Housing slump hurting other industries

As a freelance writer covering the real estate business, it’s easy for me to get too wrapped up in the woes of real estate agents, mortgage loan officers and home builders in today’s struggling market.

Sometimes I forget that the housing slump is not only impacting real estate professionals along with buyers and sellers, but other industries, too.

For instance, I write regularly for a trade magazine called Erosion Control, which, as the name suggests, is written for the contractors who make sure that construction work doesn’t cause undue erosion on job sites.

A lot of the people in this industry, who were doing great business just a few years ago, are now struggling to find work. Many have closed their businesses. Why? Because homebuilders are building fewer homes. This means fewer opportunities for erosion-control professionals. If there aren’t as many large housing subdivisions, they have to compete with a growing number of other erosion-control specialists for work on commercial projects or custom homes.

It’s a shrinking pie of business.

This is just one example. Everyone from landscapers to carpenters to electricians to construction firms are suffering because of the housing slump.