A pick up by the homebuilders is a strong sign that 2012 is going to be a strong real estate market in 2012.

After a bleak few years in new homes most homebuilders are feeling positive for this year.What this means on a local basis is depending on a couple of factors - the time and fees to develop new homes in are community, planning and zoning, etc. This is why it is important to keep these fees reasonable and not high.

Unfortunately many of the fees in East Providence and other communites in Rhode Island have gone up exponentially. A example of this is the sewer hook up fee increase of 3000 percent in 2008, from a fee of $75 to a fee of $1,500 per unit in East Providence. These type of actions don't help us to attract builders who are community.

Time is the number one problem here. It takes anywhere from two to three years to go through the approval process in Rhode Island. We must address these issues if we want growth in this city.