Nation's Building News Online

Loft-Styled New American Home Adaptable to Multi-Generational Needs

Builders are putting the finishing touches on The New American Home 2004 to have it ready for the thousands of convention-goers who will be visiting it next month during the International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas. … [ MORE ]

Building News From Coast to Coast

• Home View/Hidden Doors
• If the Kitchen's Warm, It May Be the PC
• Builders: Incentive Program Won't Lower Home Prices Much
• Eagles or Bogies? Golf Courses' Development Appeal Dwindles
• Building America: Innovation in Home Building
• Dimmers Add Ambiance, Cut Electricity Costs
• Builders Survey: Raise a Cheer
• Restaurant Look Enters the High-End Home Kitchen

[ MORE ]

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Structural Defects, Can They Happen to You?
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Proposed Lumber Accord Would Harm Housing Consumers

A proposed quota settlement of the long-standing U.S./Canada softwood lumber dispute now under discussion by the two governments represents a blow to free trade and would harm consumers, housing affordability and millions of workers in lumber-dependent industries, according to the nation’s home builders.

Last year, Canadian softwood lumber imports totaled nearly 34% of the U.S. market. Under the proposed accord, Canadian shipments above 31.5% would be subject to a punitive tariff of $200 per 1,000 board feet (or about 65% of the average value), effectively imposing an inflexible ceiling on imports. A typical new home requires about 16,000 board feet of framing lumber. …  …[ MORE ]

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Housing Snapshot

Mortgage interest rates continue bobbing up and down around the 6% mark, and last week 30-year, fixed rate loans fell to 5.88% and ARMs remained at a comfortable 3.77% for the third week in a row. Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft is predicting that the annual rate for mortgages this year will be at its lowest level in the 32-year history of the Freddie interest rate survey, and he does not expect mortgage financing to get much more expensive in 2004. General economic news was favorable last week: the Dow broke the 10,000 mark last Thursday for the first time in 18 months and the Federal Reserve indicated that it has no intention of increasing interest rates for "a considerable period." Framing lumber was down a bit to $326 per 1,000 board feet, but far bigger news came from the ongoing unraveling of price hikes for plywood and oriented strand board. According to Random Lengths, 15/32-inch 3-ply CDX Southern Westside plywood fell last week from $360 to $260 per 1,000 square feet and OSB declined from $325 to $220. [ MORE ]

Mortgage Interest Rates

30-Year Fixed-Rate: 5.88%
15-Year Fixed-Rate: 5.24%
1-Year ARM: 3.77%

Housing Starts - Oct. 2003*

Total: 1.96 million
Single-Family Starts: 1.617 million
Multifamily Starts: 343,000

New Home Sales Oct. 2003*

1.105 million

Existing Home Sales Oct. 2003*

6.35 million

* Seasonally adjusted annual rate

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