NAHB Chairman Joe Robson

Appraisal and AD&C Troubles Hamper Housing Recovery

Inappropriate appraisal practices and the acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) lending crisis that has choked off credit for home builders threaten to prolong the current housing and economic downturn, NAHB told Congress on July 23.

Testifying before the House Small Business Committee's Subcommittee on Finance and Tax, NAHB Chairman Joe Robson said these two issues “are placing enormous pressure on home builders’ bottom lines and, for many, endangering their ability to survive the economic downturn. Additional credit resources could be extremely helpful to them and other small businesses to bridge the divide and survive to the eventual economic recovery.” ...

Three New States Join Tax Credit Monetization Bandwagon

Florida, Illinois and Massachusetts are the latest states to implement programs to help monetize the $8,000 tax credit and enable first-time home buyers to use it for downpayment and closing costs.

They join 13 other states with existing programs: Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. ...

Framing was completed in three days using panelized construction.

BSC, HBA Build New Home for Katrina Victims in One Week

Nearly four years after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their home of 30 years in the Lower Ninth Ward, a New Orleans couple will be moving into a new home next month thanks to recent efforts by NAHB’s Building Systems Councils (BSC) and members of the Louisiana Home Builders Association and HBA of Greater New Orleans who built the home and expect to have it under roof and weather-tight less than a week after beginning frame construction.

HBA and BSC members — including manufacturers, suppliers and builders of systems-built homes — donated materials, money and labor to the project. Additional funding was provided by the Louisiana HBA’s Louisiana Homebuilders Disaster Relief Fund and an $85,000 grant from NAHB’s Home Building Industry Disaster Relief Fund. ...