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With the homebuilding industry just beginning to emerge from its worst downturn in a half-century, builders will share the positive signs they see at the 61st annual Atlantic Builders Convention opening Wednesday in Atlantic City.

John Hooper, owner of Hooper Builders in Sea Isle City, said homebuilding hit bottom in 2009 and “seems to be coming back.”

“There’s more buyer interest, and more reality in land pricing,” he said.

Hooper said his sales starting falling in 2006 and are off 75 percent. “I’ve never worked so hard for so little money,” he said.

Jason Schaeffer, president of Tim Schaeffer Communities, also said the industry has stabilized and started to improve.

“We’ve reached a level of normalcy now. There is traffic coming into model homes and people are talking about buying houses,” Schaeffer said. “The recovery is happening, but it’s still very fragile.”

Before the downturn, Berlin-based Tim Schaeffer was selling 215 homes a year. Its Pinecrest Development in Egg Harbor Township has sold 123 units, with three left, Schaeffer said.

Last year, the company delivered 40 houses and expects to sell a similar number this year, he said.

The scope of the projects has shrunk, too, as financing has become more difficult to secure, he said. The project the company just started — Waldon Commons in Hammonton — consists of 14 townhouses, a commuter community near the train station.

U.S. housing starts plunged to 554,000 in 2009, the lowest level since 1945, according to the Commerce Department.

The National Association of Realtors forecasts housing starts will rise to 619,000 this year and then surge to one million in 2011.

The improvement will be welcome news to the expected 9,000 attendees from six states at this week’s trade show Wednesday through Friday in the Atlantic City Convention Center.

Highlights this year include a house on the show floor exhibiting green building techniques to save energy and money, which appeal to newly thrifty homebuyers in the post-recession economy.

Schaeffer said a main appeal for industry professionals is seeing what’s available in the regional market.

“I go to the national show and that’s great for new products, but the regional show is better because I get to see the vendors who actually sell products in our markets,” he said.

Contact Kevin Post:

609-272-7250

KPost@pressofac.com