It’s been “the time to buy” a house for months now, according to real estate brokers trying to sell the surplus of homes still on the market.

But the owner of a Burlington company specializing in new home construction is hoping it could be the time to build as well.

James Eidson, owner of True Built Home’s newest location in Burlington, said the company’s reasonably priced, semi-custom homes are situated to sell in an otherwise stagnant market for new homes.

In fact, he sees the company’s hybrid niche of construction, which limits the options of custom home building to help rein in costs for the buyer, as the near future of homebuilding.

“What we’re doing is going to be one of the first things that really comes back in the economy,” Eidson said.

Jim Clarke, owner and broker of John L. Scott Real Estate in Anacortes, said new home construction will be both an indicator and generator of improvement in Skagit County’s housing market.

But for now, monthly statistics released Monday by Northwest Multiple Listing Service show that despite a summer warm-up in closed sales, activity in August and September has cooled off again.

Last month, 94 homes or condos sold in Skagit County, compared with 116 sales in both July of this year and September of last year.

But the median price of homes that sold last month was just 2.2 percent less than in September 2008. August’s year-over-year sales saw a 13.7 percent dip in the median price.

“I think we’re not seeing erosion of home values as quickly as we were in the prior six months,” Clarke said.

But he was cautious about drawing too many conclusions about Skagit County’s market from the statistics alone, which do not reflect the diverse mix of homes that can affect the way trends appear.

He said, for example, that an increase in August and September pending sales over the same months last year could mean that “good old-fashioned” demand is beginning to soak up the supply.

Or it could reflect a variety of other factors, such as the impact of the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, which will expire at the end of November. Unless representatives vote to extend the tax credit, interested buyers need to be under contract by the third week of October, according to the NWMLS press release.

Choosing new

Home builders in niche sectors of the industry say their steady sales of new homes might be what buyers are choosing over the large inventory of existing homes.

John Erickson, 26, a Navy pilot stationed on Whidbey Island, said he chose to build a house in Oak Harbor over buying an existing home in Anacortes, where he currently rents a house with four others.

“It was a good time in the market, investment wise, and I wanted to own my own house. If the market hadn’t been so cheap, I probably wouldn’t have bought now,” said Erickson, whose upcoming wedding also played into the decision.

His new, four-bedroom home in the West Meadows area of North Whidbey Island will cost about $300,000 — a price he said is cheaper than similar homes on the market that were a couple years old.

Built by Seattle Pacific Homes, Inc., which expanded to Island County in April 2008, the house is one of the 32 lots that has been sold out of 58 in the development.

Ronald Macdonald, associate broker and listing agent for the development, said buyers have nine floor plans to choose from when building their $300,000 to $400,000 homes.

“We have some modifications, but it’s very restricted because one of the secrets of their pricing is efficiency of design,” Macdonald said of Seattle Pacific’s building strategy in Island, Snohomish and Pierce counties.

Eidson of True Built Home is hopeful that a similar approach to building will work in the lower-priced markets near Burlington.

Since opening this summer, the company has completed one home and started another. True Built’s typical customer already owns the land and is looking to build a home for $49 to $50 per square foot.

Eidson said the new business is healthy and he hopes will grow like the first True Built Home branch in Gig Harbor, which builds four or five homes a month.

Josh Scott, managing broker at Windermere Real Estate/Skagit Valley, said new homebuilding in Mount Vernon — where a large amount of inventory remains on the market — is mostly at a standstill.

New development projects in the $250,000 to $300,000 price range, however, are beginning to sell, he said.

Clarke of John L. Scott said that if people can afford to build now, it’s the time to act.

With many home builders looking for projects, he estimates costs for housing construction are down substantially from two years ago and about as low as they’ll get.

“I think people are realizing that if they want to build their dream house, now’s the time to do it,” Clarke said.