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Create an 'Out of Office' Message
If you are attending IBS and want to create an "out of office" message as a reply to any e-mails you receive while you are away, here's what you should do in Outlook Express:
- On the Tools menu, click Out of Office Assistant.
- Type the reply message you want in the text box under the line that reads, "AutoReply only once to each sender." When you are ready to activate the message, click the button that reads, I am currently Out of the Office. Your message will be sent automatically beginning with your next incoming e-mail.
- Once you return, click the button that reads, I am currently In the Office to cancel your automatic reply.
- Note: If you have access to your e-mail while you are away, you will still be able to read and reply to your e-mails.
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We're Off to the Builders' Show
NBN Online will not be published next week while the staff attends and covers the International Builders' Show. NBN Online will resume publication on Jan. 26.
Forest Service Exempts Tongass National Forest From Roadless Rule
The U.S. Forest Service on Dec. 23 announced its decision to exempt the Tongass National Forest from the embattled Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The regulation is also known as the “Roadless Rule.”
NAHB had strongly advocated the exemption because further restrictions on timber harvesting in the forest would have taken a tremendous economic toll on local communities in that area. …
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Housing Snapshot
Mortgage interest rates remained low last week and are expected to climb only modestly over current levels in the year ahead, setting the stage for expectations of robust levels of housing activity in 2004. While the pace of home starts and sales slowed a bit toward the close of 2003, the year is expected to set a record for single-family construction and single-family sales. Job growth, which stalled in December, raised new uncertainties for the economy last week. The unemployment rate declined to 5.7% during the final month of 2003, down from a peak in June of 6.3%, but that was largely because 309,000 workers dropped out of the job force. There were 2.4 million fewer jobs in the economy at the end of 2003 than in February 2001, one month before the official start of the recession. Following the disappoining news from the jobs front, the Federal Reserve was not expected to change its policies on interest rates in its upcoming Jan.27-28 meeting and rates are generally expected to remain unchanged for some time. According to Random Lengths, framing lumber rose last week to $334 per 1,000 board feet from $323 the prior week. But increases in 15/32-inch 3-ply CDX Southern Westside plywood and OSB raised concerns over the recurrence of price spikes for those materials. The former rose to $295 per 1,000 square-feet last week, up from $250 the prior week; the latter rose from $240 to $295.
| Mortgage Interest Rates |
| 30-Year Fixed-Rate |
5.87% |
| 15-Year Fixed-Rate |
5.17% |
| 1-Year ARM |
3.76% |
| Housing Starts - Nov. 2003* |
| Total |
2.070 million |
| Single-Family Starts |
1.695 million |
| Multifamily Starts |
375,000 |
New Home Sales
Nov. 2003* |
1.082 million |
Existing Home Sales
Nov. 2003* |
6.06 million |
| * Seasonally adjusted annual rate |
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