Nation's Building News Online

Workforce Heroes Have a Tough Time Buying Homes in 25 Top Cities, NAHB Research Finds

Housing prices are too high and incomes are too low for the nation’s workforce heroes — including … [ MORE ]

Building News From Coast to Coast

• Appealing to the Crowds
• Bill Aims to Avoid Consumer Lawsuits
• Builders Dish on Construction Flaws
• Builders: More Homes Per Acre Will Cut Sprawl
• Building a Hurricane-Proof Home
• Demand Remains for Old Skills
• Digital Design Help
• Fed Tackles Affordable Housing Barriers

[ MORE ]

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Appeals Court Rules That Wetlands Regulations Apply to Roadside Ditches

NAHB last week blasted a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in which it decided that a 12-acre parcel of land draining into a roadside ditch is subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act.

“With this decision, the court has transformed virtually every front and back yard in the mid-Atlantic region adjacent to a man-dug ditch into waterfront property,” said NAHB Executive Vice President and CEO Jerry Howard. …  …[ MORE ]

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Housing Snapshot

Mortgage interest rates continued to set new record lows last week in a housing industry that has been basking in good news, while the outlook for the rest of the economy, according to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, is "still somewhat cloudy." Wholesale prices dropped 0.3% in May, the second consecutive monthly decline in the Producer Price Index, but far slower than April's decline of 1.9%. All eyes are now focused on what the Fed will do next week. It is expected to cut the federal funds rate from 1.25% to 1%. The manufacturing sector has been losing jobs for 34 consecutive months. [ MORE ]

Mortgage Interest Rates

30-Year Fixed-Rate: 5.21%
15-Year Fixed-Rate: 4.60%
1-Year ARM: 3.54%

Housing Starts - Apr. 2003*

Total: 1.63 million
Single-Family Starts: 1.36 million
Multifamily Starts: 274,000

New Home Sales Apr. 2003*

1.028 million

Existing Home Sales Apr. 2003*

5.84 million

* Seasonally adjusted annual rate

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