Cement production has come a long way from this lime quarry for the Utah Portland Cement Company in 1903. (photo: U.S. Geological Survey library)

Materials Problems Persist in Robust Housing Market

The worst may be over, but at the peak of the busy spring season home builders continue to be hammered by high or rising construction materials prices and shortages, according to economic analysts at NAHB.

"While wood prices are easing, there is still upward pressure on a number of other materials," said NAHB economist Michael Carliner.

Persistently strong demand for new housing has exacerbated the problem, analysts say, but products such as metals and cement have come under the influence of international factors in the global marketplace. ...

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Sign up three or more of your employees for Nation's Building News and you automatically will be entered in a contest to win a Sony digital camera.

There have been two winners already and you could be next.

To subscribe your employees to Nation’s Building News and be entered into the "Make Your Business Click" contest, visit our contest subscription page by clicking here. 

Subscribe your employees and they will begin receiving valuable industry and business news at their desktops beginning with the very next issue.

Nation's Building News is NAHB's free, online newspaper. Inside, you'll find the latest lumber prices, industry news, builders' tips, lumber prices, problem-solving floor plans and more. For more information or to sign up your employees, click here. ...

Gov. John Hoeven before the North Dakota Legislative Assembly in December.

North Dakota Twenty-Fifth State to Enact NOR Law

When North Dakota’s Republican Governor John Hoeven signed House Bill 1437 on April 20, his state became the 25th in the nation to enact notice and opportunity to repair (NOR) legislation that makes it easier and less expensive for builders and home owners to resolve construction defect disputes.

The new law requires home owners to give the builder written notice of an alleged defect. The builder then has 30 days to inspect and, if appropriate, remedy the defect within a reasonable time. ...