NBN Online for the week of June 6, 2005

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In This Issue:

Front Page
Builders Grapple With Sky-High Regulatory Costs
Will You Be the Next Winner of a Digital Camera?
Builders Reduce Environmental Regulatory Burdens
Layouts for Living
Floor Plans: Carolina Dreamin'
Coast to Coast
Market Driving Risky Mortgages
Housing Forum
Why Housing Costs So Much
Economics & Finance
California Home Equity Up $1 Trillion Since 2000
Eye on the Economy
Tips
A Story-Pole Approach to Shingling a Roof
Business Management
A Tune-Up Checklist to Help Reduce Cycle Time
Seniors Housing
Public-Purpose Marketing Should Aim for the Heart
Multifamily
Multifamily Market Continues to Gain Ground
Education
Education Calendar
Building Systems
Modular Builders File Petition on Load Regulations
Pulte Ramps Up Factory Component Building System
Regulation
San Diego Builders Cry Foul Over Road Fee
Legal
Trends in Land Use, Environmental Law Examined
Labor
Lowe’s Renews Commitment to Job Corps Grads
Building Products
Program Supports Builder-Owned Mortgage Companies
Builder's Engineer
How Scott Wammack Made It Big (Part 1)
TV
NAHB-Produced Shows on HGTV & DIY — This Week
Endowment
Grant to HBI Addresses Construction Labor Shortage
Association News
June Is National Homeownership Month
Tsunami Fund Receives Donation From Glenn Lukos Associates
Fund Brings Executive Officers to Board Meeting
Floridians Warned on Hurricane Preparations
Customize Your Computer’s Cursor With the NBN ‘Hammer’
GM Discount Available on More Than 80 Vehicles
Save More With BuilderBooks.com Rewards
Calendar of Events
NAHB Career Center

Top Story

Builders Grapple With Sky-High Regulatory Costs

With concerns about affordability growing in many of the nation’s major housing markets, NAHB Vice President and Treasurer Brian Catalde and California Building Industry Association (CBIA) President Steve Doyle, attending PCBC last week in San Francisco, called on local governments to reduce the impact fees, zoning constraints, construction code requirements and other regulatory burdens on builders and developers that are driving up the cost of housing.
[MORE]

Lumber Prices Provided by Random Lengths

Framing Lumber Composite $ 412 up $ 8
OSB Composite $ 384 up $ 6
Southern Pine Plywood Composite $ 514 up $ 5
With Permission from: RandomLengths.com

Layouts for Living

Floor Plans: Carolina Dreamin'

Nimphius Home — Advanced Custom Homes
(www.advancedhomes.us)

Building in an Idyllic Location: John Nimphius, of Advanced Custom Homes, Inc., came to Hilton Head, S.C., in the late 1990s to build the home of his dreams in the setting of his dreams ― on Hilton Head Island with its breathtaking vistas of the Intracoastal Waterway and the saltwater marshes that feed into it.

Four Floors of Elegance: To take full advantage of the setting, Nimphius built a four-story, four-bedroom townhouse in Windmill Harbour, a 172-acre private community of 500 residences. The home overlooks the centerpiece of the community, a 15-acre-inland harbor. (He has since built six more and lived in two of them.)
[MORE]

 

Will You Be the Next Winner of a Digital Camera?

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 four winners already — the most recent winner is Philip Wood, of Nailman Construction, LLC in Rockland, Mass. — 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.

[MORE]

Builders Reduce Environmental Regulatory Burdens

Under a new initiative in Wisconsin designed to promote superior environmental performance in housing and other industries, the Wisconsin Builders Association (WBA)  is working with the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on a charter that will substantially reduce regulatory burdens on builders who are pursuing innovative techniques to protect natural resources and improve air and water quality.

The state’s Green Tier program, which was signed into law by Governor Jim Doyle in 2004, will provide builders and developers with the flexibility to pursue new environmentally friendly techniques that push beyond many of the old, prescriptive ideas incorporated into the DNR’s existing regulations.

[MORE]

Housing Snapshot

Interest Rates  
  30-Yr. Fixed: 5.62% 15-Yr. Fixed: 5.20% 5 Yr. ARM: 5.10%
  1 Yr. ARM: 4.26% Libor (3 months): 3.37% Prime: 6.0%
Housing Starts*  (April 2005)
  Total: 2.038 million Single: 1.635 million Multi: 403,000
Home Sales*  (April 2005)
  New: 1.316 million Existing: 7.18 million  
Median Home Prices  (April 2005)
  New: $230,800 Existing: $206,000  
* Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate

 

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