Print-All Page: September 26, 2005

Responding to Supreme Court decisions this summer with an adverse impact on private property rights, the NAHB Board of Directors at its fall meeting earlier this month in Reno, Nev. approved policy in support of legislation to keep state and local governments from abusing their power of eminent domain and to provide landowners with access to the federal courts in takings cases.

The court’s ruling in Kelo v. City of New London confirmed that private property may be taken from one private property owner and transferred to another “if the government merely pronounces that doing so will benefit the community economically by increased tax revenue or more job opportunities,” the resolution notes.

“Such a broad interpretation of ‘public use’ imposes almost no checks or balances on eminent domain actions by state and local governments,” the resolution says, and it could allow the government to take undeveloped land and affordable housing and transfer ownership to another private property owner if there is a higher potential for revenue.

Leaving it up to legislative bodies to determine what constitutes a public use, the Supreme Court decision has prompted an outpouring of proposals in the U.S. Congress and state and local legislatures to limit the power of eminent domain.

In the resolution, NAHB board members reiterated support for the proper use of eminent domain, with just compensation:

Among the legislative proposals offered in the U.S. Congress in the summer, H.R. 3135 would prevent federal funds for development projects using “economic development” as the basis for taking private property. Introduced by Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and John Conyers (D-Mich.), chairman and ranking member respectively of the Judiciary Committee, the bill has received more than 100 bipartisan co-sponsors.

The House bill followed the introduction of similar legislation in the Senate by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).

NAHB is working with the sponsors of these bills to ensure that they do not restrict the "traditional" uses of eminent domain. NAHB has not yet taken a position on any of these bills.

On the same issue, the House successfully passed an appropriations bill, H.R. 3058, including an amendment by Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) that would deny federal funds to any city or state project that uses the Kelo decision to condemn property.

The board’s resolution also responded to a decision by the court in the case of San Remo v. San Francisco preventing property owners from having their Fifth Amendment takings cases heard in federal court.

“NAHB should seek and support federal legislation and regulation that will justly compensate land owners in an expeditious and fair manner for the value of their property, which is taken or deemed unusable temporarily or permanently be federal, state, county, regional or local government,” the resolution said.

To read the legislation, click here and enter the bill number in the box at the upper left.

For more information on the resolution, e-mail Jay Shackford at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8406.

For information on the federal legislation, e-mail Michael Strauss at NAHB, or call him at x8252.

Floor Plans: Meeting Families' Needs With Charm and Purpose

Builder/Developer:
Soutwest Housing (www.southwesthousing.com)
Architect:
Beeler Guest Owens Architects, L.P.

Rosemont at Oak Valley combines charm and luxury apartment-style living in a variety of home configurations — single level, attached and detached — with extensive community amenities and helpful supportive services that work within the budgets of working families.

The result is a community that makes a difference by offering a wide range of services to help families manage their busy lives. Rosemont at Oak Valley was awarded a 2004 Best in American Living Award (BALA) in the Best Affordable Home category.

There was a need in booming Austin, Texas to design and build a community for working families that would have all the amenities and character while maintaining the level of detail and charm found in the surrounding neighborhood. The topography of the Texas hill country site created a challenge to the design of the duplex/townhome floor plan.

Three-bedroom rental units with luxury amenities and an ample dose of coziness — all combined in a family-oriented package.

At the heart of the community's family services are on-site resident activities coordinators and the community center. The coordeinators ensure that each resident is welcomed into the community and connected to the services they need — from free after-school enrichment programs for children to computer classes, job training or parenting classes for adults. Rosemont residents are also eligible for the SMART savings program® that can help them achieve their dream of buying a home or going back to school. Most of these services are provided at the community center

Rosemont offers an array of family services for children and parents alike at the community center.

Click for larger image.

Because the site was heavily wooded and contained a steep slope, the buildings were designed to fit between the largest trees while saving natural vegetation and rolling hills to capture and maintain the "Hill Country" style of living. Residents now have an opportunity to live in a market-rate quality community at a lower cost.

Features & Specs

Homes: Rosemont at Oak Valley

Total Square Footage: 1,325
Location: Austin, Texas
Luxury apartment-style amenites
Three-bedroom, two-bath layouts
Galley kitchen with pantry
Market-rate living without the cost

Comunity/Family Services:

On-site resident activities coordinator
Free after-school enrichment programs for children
LEAP (Life Enrichment and Academic Program)
Computer education classes
Summer activities for children, including DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) and Junior Achievement
Teen activities
Adult education and enhancement programs
SMART Savings Program® for homeownership and education
Health education seminars and screenings
Social service referrals and assistance
Planned resident social and recreational activities

— Soutwest Housing, Dallas (www.southwesthousing.com)
— Beeler Guest Owens Architects, L.P., Dallas

(Photos: © John Mark Photography

Real Estate Analysts Find Scant Housing Bubble Evidence

Scrutinizing the imputed cost of owning a single-family house compared to renting the same unit in 46 metropolitan areas over the past 25 years, a paper prepared for the current fall issue of the Journal of Economic Perspectives concludes that there was little evidence of a housing bubble at the end of last year.

The recent rapid growth in prices has been caused by supply and demand rather than by “home buyers who are willing to pay inflated prices for houses today because they expect unrealistically high housing appreciation in the future,” according to the authors of the study — Charles Himmelberg, senior economist, Research and Statistics Group, Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Christopher Mayer, Paul Milstein professor of real estate, Columbia Business School, Columbia University; and Todd Sinai, associate professor of real estate, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

“In high-appreciation markets like San Francisco, Boston and New York, current housing prices are not cheap, but our calculations do not reveal large price increases in excess of fundamentals,” the economists say. “For such cities, expectations of outsized capital gains appear to play, at best, a very small role in single-family house prices.”

Instead, the authors of the report, “Assessing High House Prices: Bubbles, Fundamentals and Misperceptions,” attribute recent “rampant” price increases in housing to basic economic factors such as low real, long-term interest rates; high income growth; and housing price levels that had fallen to unusually low levels during the mid-1990s.

From 1995 to 2004, real prices of single-family homes in the U.S. grew at an average annual rate of 3.6%, or nearly 40%, the analysts report, compared to an average annual rate of 0.5% between 1975 and 1995, or 10% over the course of two decades.

Housing prices overall looked “reasonable” last year, the study says, and appeared to be overvalued in only a few cities — Miami; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Portland, Ore.; and to a degree, San Diego.

“Our evidence does not suggest that house prices cannot fall in the future if fundamental factors change,” the report says.

“An unexpected rise in real interest rates that raises housing costs, or a negative shock to a local economy, would lower housing demand, slowing the growth of housing prices, and possibly even leading to a house price decline. However, this fact does not mean that today houses are systematically mispriced.”

Because real long-term interest rates have been so low, the economists point out that housing costs currently are more sensitive to an increase in those rates than at any other time in the past 25 years.

The article cites previous research presenting evidence that there are certain “superstar” cities — such as San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles — where tight supply constraints (such as land and government regulation) combined with an increasing number of people who want to live in the area, can produce higher-than-average house price growth over an extended period. In these cities, house prices will be higher relative to rents and more sensitive to changes in interest rates.

Lower mortgage origination costs have made it easier for home owners to refinance their mortgages to enjoy the benefits of lower interest rates; may have permanently increased the demand for housing; and may have lowered the imputed rent associated with owning a house for more recent home buyers, the report says.

However, the study cites a number of statistics indicating that it is, at the very least, an oversimplification to conclude that home prices have surged recently because it has become easier to borrow:

The economists caution that their research does not extend to conditions in the condominium market, “which due to its lower transaction costs and higher liquidity may be more vulnerable to overvaluation and overbuilding arising from investor speculation.”

Is It Better to Buy or Rent?

After five years with rents barely budging while house prices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and elsewhere doubling, renting has become a surprisingly smart option for people who never before would have considered it. Owning a home today is more expensive than renting in the Northeast, Florida and California, according to an analysis by the New York Times that includes the major costs and benefits of owning and renting, including tax breaks. In the San Francisco Bay Area, a typical family that buys a $1 million house will be spending about $5,000 a month, but could rent a similar house for about $2,500, or for a net of only $1,720 assuming that they were earning $800 a month, or 4%, in interest on the money they would have used for a downpayment and closing costs to purchase that home. Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and his wife sold their Washington condominium last year for $445,000 and now rent a similar one for $2,200 a month. “A lot of people hugely overvalue the mortgage deduction,” he said, “because they compare it to no deduction instead of comparing it to the standard deduction.” (www.nytimes.com)
New York Times (9/25/05); David Leonhardt

A Ray of Sunshine Through the Debt

In its survey of 40 million home mortgages in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico during this year’s second quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America reported that 4.3% of all home owners were late in their payments, down from 4.6% for the same quarter of 2004, and 1% of all outstanding mortgages were in foreclosure, down from 1.2% a year earlier. The survey shows that the lowest late payment and foreclosure rates are in the states with the highest housing costs and rapid housing price appreciation and the highest rates tend to be in parts of the country where the housing costs and appreciation are relatively low and the economy is growing slower than average. The lowest late payment rates were in Hawaii (0.9%), California (1%) and Virginia (1.3%). The highest rates of delinquencies were in Mississippi (8.5%), Louisiana (6.7%), Indiana (6.7%), Tennessee (6.3%), Texas (6.3%) and Ohio (6.1%). Ohio had the highest foreclosure rate (3.3%) and California the lowest (0.17%). (www.washingtonpost.com)
Washington Post (9/24/05); Kenneth R. Harney, The Nation’s Housing

The Magic Touch

During the past five years, John Beal, a resident of Leesburg, Va., in the Washington, D.C. suburbs and acting president of the Capital Area Real Estate Investment Association, has bought and fixed up about 10 homes in need of such upgrades as new floors, fresh paint and new windows and then sold each one at a sizable profit. “You can do three things with a fixer-upper,” he said. “You can buy it to live in it. You can fix it and flip it. Or you can fix it and rent it out. I’ve done all three and all three have worked for me.” Investors such as Beal are looking for bargains in a market where housing prices have been rising steadily. The median price of a single-family house in the District was $485,000 in August, according to the local Realtors®, up from $375,000 a year earlier. Last year, 15% of mortgage originations were for properties not occupied by the owner, up from about 5% for the 1990-1995 period, according to the Federal Reserve. Beal said he has seen a lot of people try to make a profit in the fixer-upper market but fail because they thought they could do the general contracting themselves or they underestimated the holding costs, the mortgage, insurance, selling expenses and taxes. “They think, ‘If I sell it for $500,000 and buy it for $350,000, I’ll make $150,000. It’s not like that.” (www.washingtonpost.com)
Washington Post (9/24/05); Dan Rafter

In Housing’s Hottest Markets, Builders Tell Speculators to Cool It

Home buyers are concerned that speculative home buying could have a destabilizing effect on the local property market. “You don’t want to sell [units], and then when you go to settlement, signs start popping up all over the subdivision — sale, sale — that compete with the builder,” said Gopal Ahluwalia, an NAHB vice president. Measures such as providing a limitation in the sales contract on the buyer’s ability to rent or resell a property for a specified period of time are more common for condominium developers, where speculative buying is rife, he said. But some builders are trying to restrict sales of single-family homes to investors, especially in markets like Florida and Southern California, where prices have been rising quickly. Hovnanian Enterprises started at the beginning of this year to stipulate that a buyer can’t resell the property for 12 months in the contracts in all 13 states where it operates. (www.wsj.com)
Wall Street Journal (12/11/09); Allison Bisbey Colter, Dow Jones Newswires

Lenders Pull Back on Condominium Financing

Commercial lenders are starting to cut back on new condo projects or condo conversions in Atlanta, concerned that there is a glut of the product on the market. As of Sept. 13, there were 2,427 active listings for condos in the Buckhead, Midtown and downtown area, said Randal Lautzenheiser, principal at Atlanta Intown Real Estate Services. More than 1,900 condos have sold in that area since the start of the year. “I continue to be amazed at how much product is being absorbed in the market, but I think it is absorbing more new product than resales,” he said. “I can see lenders looking at those absorption numbers and scaling back on their lending practices.” South Florida’s condo market is dominated by investors, according to Faron G. Thompson, managing director of commercial mortgage banking for Primary Capital in Atlanta. Although most lenders set a 30% limit for investors in a condo project, “it’s not even close to being 30%” in Miami, he said, with investors finding ways to mask their purchases. “I’m not accusing anyone of wrongdoing,” he said, “but those guys who can’t continue to flip those condos and get a premium will stop buying them. Everyone senses that and lenders are beginning to say, ‘Enough.’” (www.atlanta.bizjournals.com)
Atlanta Business Chronicle (9/16/05); Lisa R. Schoolcraft

Building in Green

Contributing to the Chinese government’s plans to move 400 million people – about half of the country’s rural population — into urban centers by 2030, American architect and industrial designer William McDonough is working on six new districts in such cities as Beijing and Guangzhou that, among other things, will maximize energy efficiency through new types of building materials and a solar-powered energy grid. McDonough has developed a polystyrene made by BASF without ozone-depleting chloro-fluorocarbons but with excellent insulating qualities. “Buildings can be heated and cooled for next to nothing,” he says. “And they’ll be silent. If there are 13 people in the apartment upstairs, you won’t hear them.” McDonough is also working on new toilet bowls that are so slippery they can be flushed with a light mist. Bamboo wetlands nearby would purify the waste, and the bamboo could be harvested and used for wood. The Chinese use three times more energy per square meter to heat and cool buildings than Europeans and Americans, according to professor Yuan Bin at Beijing’s Tsinghua University school of architecture. Although only 23 million Chinese own cars, China produces 16% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions and is poised to overtake the U.S. as the world’s biggest carbon dioxide producer within 30 years. (www.msnbc.msn.com)
MSNBC.com (9/2605); Sarah Schafer and Anne Underwood, Newsweek International

Don't Let Bill O'Reilly Disparage Our Industry

Inaccuracies in the media are one thing. What the host of The O’Reilly Factor had to say in his Sept. 21 broadcast about “corruption in the home building industry” in the Katrina rebuilding effort getting underway on the Gulf Coast are quite another. Click here, to find out what was said and how you can join NAHB President Dave Wilson in firing back at some outrageously disparaging remarks.

I am the 2005 president of the 230,000-member National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Our members construct approximately 80% of the housing built in this country every year, and they deserve at least some credit for creating the best housed nation on earth. As such, I am outraged by the inaccurate, indefensible and utterly abominable way that you characterized the home building industry during your Sept. 21 interview of Donald Trump.

In speaking of rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Katrina, you insinuated that home builders who will rebuild the devastated communities across the Gulf Coast are unscrupulous profiteers who are looking to make a quick buck and even defraud the government and consumers. You went so far as to state that “corruption in the home building industry, as you know, is huge,” and suggest that FBI agents should be sent to building sites because home builders will say they’re “doing one thing and put in inferior materials and all that.”

In the first place, you clearly have little knowledge of the home building industry. In fact, ours is one of the most regulated professions in this country, not just by building codes and building inspectors, but a regimen of governmental approvals and permits. Reputable builders don’t use inferior materials, as you suggested. If they did, they would be out of business in no time.

You also mistakenly referred to companies like Bechtel and Halliburton — large multinationals that are in a completely different line of business — as representatives of our efforts. They are not. Most of us home builders are small business owners who live in the communities we help build; who rely on our reputations as our most important assets; and who aren’t afraid to roll up our sleeves to provide the time, money and skills that are needed to help restore our communities following disasters such as Katrina.

Contrary to the uninformed picture you paint, home builders were among the first to come forward after Hurricane Katrina with genuine offers of help — and we’ve put our money where our mouths are. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has pledged $2 million for relief so far, and we expect to raise millions more through generous contributions from our members in the days ahead.

It was incredibly irresponsible of you to use your position on national television to air your uneducated, biased views without bothering to do your homework. You owe us an apology, Mr. O’Reilly. Set the record straight.

Builders Endorse House Endangered Species Reforms

Legislation approved last Friday by the House Resources Committee on a bipartisan vote of 26-12 that would improve and update the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has received the endorsement of the nation’s home builders.

H.R. 3824, the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005 (TESRA), “represents an important step in moving ESA reform forward,” said NAHB President David Wilson. “Eliminating the outdated and litigation-driven critical habitat provisions from the statute would help protect, conserve and recover species while balancing the needs of the communities in which we live and work.”

“NAHB applauds the efforts of House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) and Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) for working in a bipartisan manner to move this legislation forward,” he added.

The Endangered Species Act was passed by Congress in 1973 with the intent to protect and preserve species that have been identified as threatened or endangered. Since then, more than 1,250 domestic species have been listed for protection; however, the populations of less than 1% have recovered to healthy levels.

“Clearly, the ESA has fallen short of its goals,” said Wilson. “By codifying the ‘no surprises’ policy for habitat conservation plans, H.R. 3824 would provide private property owners, state and local governments and community organizations the necessary regulatory certainty to continue their species and conservation efforts.”

Habitat conservation plans are voluntary agreements between landowners and the federal government that seek to minimize and mitigate the impact of land development activities on threatened or endangered species.

Some of NAHB’s concerns with the bill were addressed during the Resources Committee markup. Opposed by NAHB, an amendment to strike language to ensure that recovery plans remain guidance documents was defeated.

Private property compensation provisions in the bill were strengthened significantly during committee consideration, and an NAHB-supported amendment to ensure that local and regional land use agencies are consulted when the federal government develops recovery plans was overwhelmingly approved.

The bill contains several other reform measures, including standardizing the listing process and strengthening the biological and scientific data required to substantiate decisions made under the act.

As the legislation advances, NAHB looks forward to working with its sponsors to make further improvements.

“Chairman Pombo has taken a common-sense approach that provides for species conservation and protection while accommodating the needs of the communities and states where they reside,” said Wilson. “We urge the full House to approve this measure quickly, and for the Senate to introduce companion legislation.”

To read the legislation, click here and enter H.R. 3824 in the box at the upper left.

For more information, e-mail Michael Strauss at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8252.

Katrina Recovery Bill Provides $6.1 Billion in Tax Relief

Congress approved a $6.1 billion tax package last week to help individuals and businesses devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and President Bush was expected to sign the measure in short order.

Of interest to members of NAHB, the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act (H.R. 3768) allows individuals in disaster zones to use mortgage revenue bonds, which are typically issued by state and local governments, to finance low-interest rate mortgages or loans for repairing damaged homes.

As outlined by the House Ways and Means Committee, key provisions of the relief measure include:

Lawmakers are working on another package of hurricane-related tax breaks that will encourage businesses to rebuild in New Orleans and other storm-ravaged areas in Louisiana , Mississippi and Alabama .

In addition, President Bush has proposed creating a Gulf Opportunity Zone. Modeled after the “empowerment zones” that have been established across the country since the 1990s, the zones would provide businesses with special tax breaks through 2007 for rebuilding and expansion. Under the President’s plan, small businesses would be allowed to write off up to $200,000 in equipment investment costs and all businesses would receive a 50% bonus depreciation allowance.

The proposal would also make loans and loan guarantees available for small businesses and minority-owned businesses to get them up and running again.

Click here and enter the bill number in the box at the upper left for more details on H.R. 3768, or e-mail Jim Tobin at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8258.

Flood Insurance Financing Expanded for Katrina Victims

President Bush on Sept. 20 signed into law two flood insurance bills that will provide more money for Hurricane Katrina victims.

The National Flood Insurance Program Enhanced Borrowing Authority Act of 2005, H.R. 3669, allows the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to borrow up to $3.5 billion a year from the Treasury to pay claims from Katrina. That is an increase from a current ceiling of $1.5 billion.

The NFIP offers affordable flood insurance to home owners and businesses in flood plains and other low-lying areas that otherwise might not be able to obtain such coverage.

More than 20,000 communities nationwide participate in the NFIP and the program currently covers approximately 4.5 million policyholders.

The NFIP pays up to $250,000 for residential flood damages and $500,000 for non-residential buildings.

The President also signed into law H.R. 804, legislation that excludes federal financial assistance for flooding from being considered as income, so that a person’s eligibility for other government benefit programs isn’t affected.

To read this legislation, click here and enter the bill number in the box at the upper left.

For more information, e-mail Michael Strauss at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242.

GSE Reform Bills Moving Slowly in Congress

Legislation to provide regulatory reform for housing GSEs Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks that has been passed by the House Financial Services Committee, H.R. 1461, appeared briefly to be headed for a full House vote last week before rumors of floor consideration were scuttled by House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Texas), who cited ongoing negotiations with conservative Republicans who are opposed to the bill’s creation of a new affordable housing fund.

Two weeks ago, Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael Oxley (R-Ohio) and Subcommittee Chairman Richard Baker (R-La.), the sponsor of the legislation, announced that they had drafted new language to tie the affordable housing fund to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts by giving priority status to devastated areas during the fund’s first two years.

Aimed at ensuring that the GSEs fulfill their mission of providing support for affordable housing, the fund would be phased in at 3.5% of their after-tax profits for the first two years and 5% of their profits in the following years, with a sunset after five years.

Negotiations over the fund appeared to reach a standstill last week, leaving any future consideration of the bill in the hands of the House Republican leadership.

NAHB has remained in constant communication with the Financial Services Committee to ensure that any compromise does not have a negative impact on the ability of home builders to participate in the new fund. The association has received assurances from senior-level committee staff that its remaining concerns over the legislative language have been addressed, and if the measure does move forward, NAHB is ready to support its balanced approach and fight off any attempts to weaken it on the House floor.

Since S. 190 passed the Senate Banking Committee on a party-line vote, the status of GSE reform legislation in the Senate has remained unchanged.

NAHB has opposed the Senate committee’s bill for its over-reaching and potentially devastating effects on the nation’s mortgage markets.

No efforts have been made to negotiate a consensus bill since S. 190 emerged from the committee, and with a wide gulf separating its supporters and opponents, its future remains unclear.

Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has repeatedly said that he would rather have no bill than a bad bill.

NAHB is continuing to urge all members of the Senate to pursue a compromise that would create a “world-class” regulator for the GSEs, but protect the critical role that these institutions play in the housing market.

Shelby continues to oppose the creation of an affordable housing fund, whether or not it is tied to Katrina recovery efforts.

To read the legislation, click here, and enter the bill number in the box at the upper left.

For more information, e-mail Michael Strauss at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8252.

Home Starts Dip Slightly as High Prices Turn Off Buyers

Noting a “minimal” impact from Hurricane Katrina, a Sept. 20 report from the Commerce Department indicated that the pace of new-home construction edged down slightly in August but remained at a seasonally adjusted annual rate above 2 million units for the fifth consecutive month.

Total housing starts dipped 1.3% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.009 million units, following a downward revision to the July rate, leaving production just 0.8% below the pace of a year earlier.

The pace of single-family home construction edged up a slight 0.1% to 1.709 million units in August, which was 1.2% above the year-earlier rate.

“While still working hard to keep up with demand, builders have begun to see a bit of a plateau in buyer activity,” said NAHB President Dave Wilson. “NAHB’s single-family Housing Market Index for September showed that builder confidence continues to erode gradually from a recent high in June.”

“The housing market still is in very good shape, although a modest cooling may now be underway,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “Our surveys of builders show growing buyer resistance to elevated house prices in many areas, and anticipated increases in interest rates have tempered the housing outlook to some degree.”

Multifamily housing starts were down 8.5% for the month to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 300,000 units. This was 10.7% below the pace of a year earlier.

Housing starts increased in the West by 13.3%, but they were down 6.6% in the South, which had experienced unusually wet weather in August prior to Katrina; 5.2% in the Midwest and 4.1% in the Northeast.

Issuance of total building permits last month decreased 2.2% to a seasonably adjusted annual rate of 2.124 million units, with single-family permits dipping 1.3% and multifamily permits down 5.5%.

Permits were down in three regions of the country but increased by 4.2% in the South. Seiders noted that the increase, combined with the sizeable decline in housing starts for the region, has generated a considerable backlog of unused permits in the South. “Many of these permits will translate into housing starts in the South in the coming months, although the average time lag is likely to be unusually long,” he said.

HousingEconomics Online, the online publication from the NAHB Economics Group, is your single source for market analysis, forecasts, housing statistics and more. In-depth analysis and detailed Excel tables and overviews are available for all the state forecasts. To learn more or subscribe to HousingEconomics Online, visit www.housingeconomics.com.

See what's on the horizon for the housing industry at the semi-annual gathering of the country's premier economists and finance experts. Get the latest forecasts on housing starts, projected budgets and other economic bellwethers at the Fall Construction Forecast Conference on Oct. 19 at the National Housing Center in Washington, D.C. Visit www.nahb.org/conference for more information.

Though Upbeat, Builders Add Katrina to List of Worries

Home builders polled earlier this month remained optimistic about prospects for the new single-family housing market in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but confidence continued to shift slightly downward from a cyclical high point in June, not just for reasons associated with the storm, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), which was released on Sept. 19.

“Many builders appear to be adopting a more cautious attitude because of uncertainties in the economy and this post-Katrina environment, particularly with regard to sales expectations in the near term,” observed NAHB President Dave Wilson.

The overall HMI declined two points in September to a score of 65, its lowest level since July of 2003 when it also registered a 65. This was the third consecutive monthly decline from a June reading of 72.

“As expected, the housing market is beginning to show signs of cooling and builders are reacting to that,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “While the HMI survey was taken immediately following Hurricane Katrina in early September, a combination of factors is likely in play, and Katrina impacts are only one part of the equation. In fact, the current HMI does not include responses from Katrina-hit areas, which typically account for about 2% of survey responses.”

“In general, concerns about rising interest rates down the line, some buyer resistance to the strong house-price appreciation we’ve seen for several years, higher gas prices — which not only drive up the cost of doing business but also cause some people to rethink their decision to live in further-out communities — and other factors such as lot shortages and high impact fees for development, are all taking a bite out of builder optimism looking forward,” Seiders said.

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for some 20 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales, sales expectations for the next six months and the traffic of prospective buyers. Any number over 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

The builders’ assessment of current sales traffic declined one point to 72 this month, and prospective buyer traffic was down three points to 47. The component gauging sales expectations for the next six months was off more substantially, falling eight points, to 69. The decline in confidence appeared to be fairly consistent across all four regions of the country.

“Keep in mind that builder confidence is still well above the break-even point of 50 on the HMI, and more respondents are reporting good conditions than bad in their markets,” noted Seiders. “Even so, today’s results show that builders are cognizant of the anticipated signs of slowing housing activity in certain areas.”

“HousingEconomics Online,” the online publication from the NAHB Economics Group, is your single source for market analysis, forecasts, housing statistics and more. In-depth analyses, detailed Excel tables and overviews are available for all the state forecasts. To learn more or subscribe to “HousingEconomics Online”, visit www.housingeconomics.com.

Eye on the Economy

By David F. Seiders, NAHB Chief Economist
Hurricane Katrina devastated a lot of the housing stock in the Gulf region

The geographic area that bore the brunt of Katrina normally accounts for a minor share of U.S. housing market activity. Indeed, the Commerce Department reported that, “The metropolitan areas affected most by the hurricane accounted for about 1.1% of U.S. total permit authorizations in 2004 and about 2.4% of the permit activity in the South region.”

Although Katrina put only a small, immediate dent in current U.S. housing market activity, the damage to the existing housing stock was immense and the implications for future production are profound.

The Red Cross disaster assessment (as of Sept. 18) indicated that 416,894 housing units were destroyed (uninhabitable and beyond repair). In addition, nearly 85,000 units suffered “major” damage and 130,000 incurred “minor” damage. Louisiana was hit the hardest, with 348,000 units destroyed and another 43,000 damaged.

The Red Cross estimates that most (99%) of the destroyed dwelling units were single-family detached homes, with only small numbers of apartments and manufactured homes removed from the housing stock. This distribution is questionable, in view of available information on the housing stock before Katrina. In any case, the Red Cross disaster assessments for Katrina are a work in process. And, of course, this was before Hurricane Rita stormed through the Gulf of Mexico.

The near-term impact of Katrina on economic growth will be smaller than initially feared

When Katrina hit the Gulf Coast there was the potential for massive damage to the energy extraction, refining and transmission infrastructure in the region as well as to the extensive port facilities along the Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama coast.

The implications of this scenario were devastating to the economy of the affected region and quite serious to the U.S. economy as well. Some forecasters saw serious risk of a national recession, and many made deep cuts to their economic growth forecasts for the balance of this year and into 2006.

The degree of damage to the energy infrastructure and port facilities has turned out to be much less serious than the worst-case scenarios. As this message came through, energy prices receded to pre-Katrina levels and the interest rate structure gravitated back up to levels prevailing before the storm. While some key economic indicators (including payroll employment growth and industrial production) will take heavy hits in September, the impacts will be temporary, and quarterly growth in U.S. economic output will be well maintained. We’re showing average growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) at 3.4% in the second half of this year, only slightly below the first-half pace.

The federal government came under heavy criticism for a slow and inadequate response in the days following Katrina, but the federal response has burgeoned dramatically since then.

About $60 billion in disaster relief already has been requested by President Bush and appropriated by Congress, more than $6 billion in tax relief for Katrina victims now is being crafted on Capitol Hill, and the President is proposing a total hit on the federal budget that could exceed $200 billion.

This kind of fiscal response naturally provides substantial support to the economy, helping to limit shortfalls in economic activity in the final months of this year and providing a good bit of stimulus in 2006. The notion of a strong fiscal response naturally received bipartisan support in Washington, but there’s now a lot of political wrangling about how to pay for the post-Katrina recovery/reconstruction package.

The Administration appears to favor debt financing for most of the package while the Democratic leadership sees the opportunity to roll back or delay some of the Bush tax cuts that were passed in 2003 — particularly those that appear to favor the rich. The President holds most of the cards, of course, and debt financing of this magnitude should have little effect on the interest rate structure.

The Fed hikes short-term rates again despite Katrina and the approach of Rita

The Fed hiked short-term interest rates by another quarter point at the Sept. 20 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). This was the 11th consecutive quarter-point increase since mid-2004, taking the federal funds rate target from 1% to 3.75% in the process. The bank prime rate now stands at 6.75%

The Fed’s decision was highly controversial, coming shortly after Katrina and while Rita was mounting a charge in the Gulf region. The FOMC decision was not unanimous and it’s clear that a number of the 12 District Federal Reserve Banks would have preferred a pause in the action.

The FOMC statement on Sept. 20 basically said that the negative economic effects of Katrina will not persist for long while the likely boost to energy costs is bound to put upward pressure on core inflation for some time. It’s also likely that the FOMC considered the inevitable stimulative effects of the post-Katrina fiscal package as well as the stubborn strength of the supposedly interest-sensitive housing sector!

Looking ahead, the FOMC statement continued to say that remaining monetary policy “accommodation” can be removed “at a measured pace.” That means the Fed anticipates another quarter-point rate hike at the next FOMC meeting on Nov. 1, unless the economy shows signs of persistent weakness by then.

Long-term rates are whipsawed by the hurricanes but take the Fed’s move in stride

Long-term interest rates firmed up during August, fell sharply after Katrina hit, rose as the economic impacts of Katrina were revised down and held steady as the Fed enacted the increase in short-term rates on Sept. 20. Long rates receded again as the approach of Rita renewed concerns about the economy.

We’ve revised our projection of long-term rates downward from the forecast that was in place prior to Katrina. We now expect the 10-year Treasury yield to reach 4.4% by the end of this year and close out 2006 around 5.1%. Long-term home mortgage rates show equivalent changes in our forecast.

Despite current disruptions, the housing market outlook is even brighter than before Katrina

The Administration’s plan to meet post-Katrina housing needs relies heavily on the existing housing stock, temporary housing units and mobile homes. But the huge reconstruction process inevitably will involve production of conventionally built housing units — in the impacted areas and elsewhere.

Experience with previous hurricanes shows that the reconstruction process starts slowly and extends over a long period of time. At this point, we’ve held our forecast of housing starts in 2005 at pre-Katrina levels and made modest upward revisions to our 2006 forecast.

The entire economic and housing forecast definitely is a work in process, including estimates of conditions in construction labor and materials markets. Stay tuned.

NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders analyzes the economy from the point of view of the housing market every other week in the free e-newsletter, “Eye on the Economy.” The preceding is a reissue of his Sept. 21 edition. To subcribe to “Eye on the Economy,” click here.

Anticipate the trends, make better decisions and improve your bottom line. "HousingEconomics.com," the online publication from NAHB Economics Group, is your single source for market analysis, forecasts, housing statistics and more. In-depth analysis and detailed Excel tables and overviews are available for all the state and metro forecasts.

“HousingEconomics.com” combines unique scientific research with practical applications providing insights that are original and useful. This interactive Web site at the executive level provides critical data and information quickly, easily and frequently and includes the following features:

Contact Code Officials to Roll Back Costly Code Changes

Only days remain before code officials at the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) final hearings in Detroit vote on a proposal by NAHB to roll back increased wall insulation requirements for wood-framed construction.

NAHB is urging all of its members to contact the code officials who attended recent ICC code hearings or conferences and are likely to vote on the rollback proposal, EC16-04/05. The hearings take place Sept. 28-Oct. 3.

Around the country, representatives of local and state home builders associations who have been meeting with code officials to educate them and answer questions about this issue are finding an extremely receptive response.

NAHB members can click here for resources on the NAHB Web site that will enable them to participate in the current rollback campaign.

While significant progress has been reported in NAHB’s grassroots effort to educate code officials about the unnecessary toll the expensive insulation requirements would impose on the affordability of housing, mustering the two-thirds majority of code officials needed to topple the so-called reform remains an uphill battle, according to association leaders.

The Department of Energy agrees with NAHB that the increased wall insulation requirements are not cost-effective and would fail to provide significant energy savings for home owners. The department found that going from R-13 to high-density fiberglass R-15 insulation to meet the increased requirements could add $600-$1,000 to the price of a typical 2,000-square-foot home, but would yield only $15 a year in energy savings. The vast majority of home owners would never be able to recoup the cost of the higher insulation.

Further, if builders move from 2x4 to 2x6 studs to meet the higher wall insulation required by the code, the added cost would jump to $2,000-$4,000 for a typically sized home.

“This is a bad change for consumers because it will drive up the cost of housing,” said NAHB President David Wilson. “For every $1,000 increase in the cost of a new home, more than 240,000 potential home owners are priced out of the marketplace.”

Wilson added that the nation’s home builders support building codes that promote energy efficiency, “but home buyers should not bear the burden of expensive new requirements that provide negligible benefits.”

In its rollback drive, NAHB has been joined by the sprayed-foam and cellulose insulation manufacturers, APA (The Engineered Wood Association) and the glass-block industry. Many types of insulation would effectively be excluded from the marketplace because builders using them would not be able to meet the new ratings with standard 2x4 wall construction.

For more information, e-mail John Loyer at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8303.

Builders' Tip: Hassle-Free Door Painting

Painting doors — especially louvered ones — can be a tedious, messy project.

To make the process go as smoothly as possible, you need comfortable access to both sides of the door, and you need to put the door in a place where the paint can dry without getting in the way of other work.

The key to this tip is a pair of axles upon which the door can rotate. The axles are made of a 2-1⁄2-inch deck screw, a washer, a short length of 3⁄8-inch tubing and a fender washer.

As shown in the drawing, each axle is driven into the center of the door’s top and bottom rails. The tubing portion of the axle rides in slots cut into vertical uprights that are affixed to a pair of sawhorses.

Arranged horizontally, it’s easy to paint one side of the door, then rotate it to paint the other.

I leave a couple of unpainted areas along the sides of the door for handholds so that I can lift it out of the cradle. Then I hang the door from one of its axles. The axles are tucked into a slot in a 1x nailed to the ceiling joists in the garage.

Now I can touch up any areas that need attention and leave the door to dry out of the way.

BuilderBooks.com Offers More Than 250 Books That Help You Build Your Business

BuilderBooks.com is your source for training and education products for the building industry. The official bookstore for NAHB, BuilderBooks.com offers award-winning publications, software, brochures and more available in both English and Spanish. To view these publications online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.

Subscribe Your Employees to Nation’s Building News — and a Chance to Win Digital Camera

Subscribe your employees to Nation’s Building News Online. It’s free, easy and NAHB members who sign up three or more employees will be entered into the "Make Your Business Click" contest to win a digital camera. To learn more or sign up your employees, click here.

Custom Builder Symposium Relocated to Atlanta

The symposium will take place on the same dates — Nov. 11-13 — at the Sheraton Atlanta.

The symposium features industry-specific education and networking opportunities for custom home builders, remodelers, architects, developers and other industry professionals.

The symposium will also include 17 educational sessions with the following topics:

Attendees also can attend several advanced, two-day educational sessions and a roundtable discussion with industry veterans to swap business tips and best practices.

Rodney Miller, of Walt Disney World, will discuss, "What your passion can do for you." Prior to joining Walt Disney World, Miller was an executive facilitator for companies including Westinghouse, AT&T, Sears, PepsiCo. and NASA.

NAHB Has More Than 170 Resources to Help You Run Your Business More Profitably

Go to NAHB's Business Management Tools Web pages (available to members only) for instant access to more than 170 timesaving, moneymaking and cost-cutting business resources to help you run your business more profitably. Get guidance on accounting and financial management, business strategy, computers and information technology, customer service, human resources and more.

Resources are added weekly, so bookmark www.nahb.org/biztools to go directly to these vital business management resources.

Local and state home builders associations can link directly to www.nahb.org/biztools from their Web site and give their members instant access to these resources. It will make your HBA's Web site the place to go for the information and guidance that members need to succeed.

'Residential Performance Guidelines' Available From BuilderBooks.com

The contractor's and consumer's references of the "Residential Performance Guidelines, Third Edition" are now available through BuilderBooks.com. With almost 300 guidelines in 12 major construction categories, including 50 new guidelines on cabinets, cement board siding, concrete, countertops, drainage, driveways, drywall, landscaping water infiltration and more, these references were created to help builders and remodelers create and manage customer expectations while delivering high-performance homes and protecting their bottom lines. Click here to order both the contractor and consumer references online. For the contractor's performance guidelines reference only, click here.

NAHB’s Business of Building e/Source is your monthly electronic guide to the hot issues and emerging trends in home building business management. You’ll find practical advice, tricks of the trade and sound business guidance — all delivered monthly, straight to your desktop, in a quick and easy-to-read format. Business of Building e/Source is available free to NAHB members and their employees. To subscribe, visit www.nahb.org/BoB on the Members Only side of the NAHB Web site.

Stop by the BuilderBooks Bookstore at the Custom Builders Symposium for books you need to build your business, great savings and giveaways. BuilderBooks.com Reward participants, show your Rewards card to receive an additional 5% off your purchase.

Proposed 'Endangered' Owl Delisting Called Long Overdue

In a victory for sensible policymaking, two years after a federal court ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listing of the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl as an endangered species was illegal, the service has proposed its removal from the list.

The service’s new proposed rule finds that Arizona’s owls do not qualify as a “significant” population and should be taken off the endangered species list. The proposed rule would also render moot an earlier proposal, never finalized, that would have directly affected 1.2 million acres of pygmy owl habitat.

“We support the Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed action,” said NAHB President David Wilson. “The delisting of the pygmy owl is based on sound science, not political whim.”

In National Association of Home Builders v. Norton — a suit brought by NAHB, the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association and the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona — the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Aug. 19, 2003 that the pygmy owl listing was illegal. The court found that the service had not articulated a rational basis for its listing given that the owls were known to exist in far greater numbers in Mexico.

Surveys conducted by Arizona officials, most recently in 2002, found just 18 pygmy owls in the state.

“Setting aside 1.2 million acres for 18 owls is excessive,” Wilson said. “It is an abuse of government power. This proposed rule is a victory for sensible policymaking.”

NAHB economists have estimated that if a 1.2 million-acre habitat designation were to go into effect, the state’s annual construction of new homes would fall by roughly 262, local economies would lose $545 million in activity over 10 years and local governments would lose $68.3 million in tax and permit revenue. In the first year alone, 705 jobs would be lost, growing to about 2,750 over 10 years.

Much of the problem stems from the availability of developable land in the state. Although Tucson is surrounded by vacant land, almost all of it is owned by the State of Arizona, the Forest Service, the National Park Service, the military or tribal reservations, and is off limits for housing development.

Out of the 9,184 square miles in Pima County, only 75,000 acres of private land remain in the Tucson area and outside the proposed designation. In the next 10 years, Tucson will need 45,000 acres to accommodate new residents.

For more information, e-mail Blake Smith at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8583.

Granite and Marble Slab Transport Poses Hazards

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration earlier this month issued a bulletin to alert employers and employees to the hazards associated with transporting granite and marble rock slabs; remind employers that devices for transporting these materials need to be properly designed and maintained; and emphasize the importance of training employees in safe rock slab handling procedures.

Transported vertically on storage racks strapped to the bed of flatbed trucks, often on A-frame racks made of metal or wood, the rock slabs can vary in weight from hundreds to thousands of pounds, and can shift or fall when being unloaded.

A review of OSHA data confirms that there have been a number of injuries and fatalities associated with the handling and transporting of these slabs when workers are caught in between them or struck by them when they shift or fall. An average individual truck load can weigh between 30,000 and 40,000 pounds.

In many cases, the A-frame racks have not been designed to take into account the weight of the slabs or to prevent shifting of other slabs when another slab shifts during transport or is removed, the bulletin warns.

The restraining devices or tie-downs used to secure the slabs can also be a problem when they are removed if the frame has not been designed to prevent shifting. The slabs can also shift or fall if the restraining devices fail or have been improperly placed.

The OSHA bulletin advises that the following procedures will minimize the potential hazards to employees and truck drivers who may be involved in off-loading these slabs:

For more information, e-mail Rob Matuga at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8507.

The first ever English-Spanish “Jobsite Safety Video,” available through BuilderBooks.com, provides an overview of the key safety issues residential builders and workers need to focus on to reduce accidents and injuries. Based on the “NAHB-OSHA Jobsite Safety Handbook,” this DVD is intended to be used as part of an essential residential construction safety-training program and includes two 20-minute videos. To view or purchase this DVD online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.

‘Dine for America’ to Help Katrina Victims

NAHB is one of many organizations that is partnering with the National Restaurant Association in a “Dine for America” fund-raising campaign on Oct. 5 to help the Red Cross provide much needed relief to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

“I know many of your members are wondering what else they can do to help our fellow Americans,” Steven Anderson, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association, wrote to NAHB last week. “By partnering with us, we can send a positive message of how associations, who are the leaders in our society, can provide benefit and relief to those in need.”

NAHB members are being encouraged to participate in the Oct. 5 event by enjoying a meal at a restaurant that has signed up for the event — whether it’s a morning cup of coffee, lunch during the work day with colleagues or dinner with family or friends. Proceeds from the day will go directly to the Red Cross.

The first “Dine for America” took place on Oct. 11, 2001 to assist families following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. On that day, the restaurant industry raised more than $20 million at more than 8,000 restaurants.

Consultants Can Enhance Your Marketing Prowess

Deciding whether to build a marketing and sales team with in-house talent or outsourced marketing assistance is a decision every builder/developer of active-adult communities considers during the pre-development phase and planning.

According to Janis Ehlers, president of The Ehlers Group, Inc., a strategic marketing and communications company based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., the decision should be based on realistic expectations and results.

Knowledge — A “been there, done that” attitude. Staff knows the geographic area, company’s product and areas of expertise.

Compensation — Employee salaries and benefit packages are allocated to a variety of projects within the company.

However, the team may lack the knowledge of the subtle differences in the active-adult market. It may be to your advantage to support in-house capabilities by added outsourced consultants.

Most experienced consultants have been in your shoes. By maintaining a positive, give-and-take relationship, you’ll soon realize the tremendous advantages and insights a consultant can bring to your team and how that ultimately can help your community achieve its marketing and sales goals.

Adam Rosenblum is the vice president of sales and marketing for The Palace Management Group, which specializes in seniors housing and care. Based in Miami, The Palace’s continuum of care includes The Palace at Kendall campus, an independent living community with two assisted living residences and a nursing and rehabilitation center. The company also operates The Palace Gardens Assisted Living Community in Homestead, Fla., Homestead Manor Nursing Home and The Palace at Home, a Medicare certified home health agency. The Palace Tel-Aviv is a continuing care retirement community in Israel and The Palace at Weston, a luxury 55-plus age-qualified apartment community, is under construction. For more information, e-mail Rosenblum, or call him at 305-270-7000.

NAHB Experts to Answer All at Remodeling Show

Several of the remodeling industry’s top professionals will be discussing how to operate a successful remodeling company during free forum discussions at the upcoming 2005 Remodeling Show in Baltimore. The experts will discuss a variety of topics ranging from scheduling, marketing, benchmarking success, change orders and more.

Experts from NAHB’s Remodelors™ Council will be available during six “Ask the Experts” open forums on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 13-14, at the Remodelors™ Council booth, #721. “Ask the Experts” is a new council feature at the show this year.

Thursday, Oct. 13
Time	Topic	Expert
12:30-1:30 p.m.	Scheduling for Success	MM Weiss, CGR, CAPS, GMB
2:00-3:00 p.m.	Marketing Plans	Tom Swartz, CGR
3:30-4:00 p.m.	Aging in Place Market	Vince Butler, CGR, CAPS, GMB
Friday, Oct. 14
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.	Financial Benchmarks for Successful Remodeling Companies	Alan Hanbury, CGR, CAPS
1:30-2:30 p.m.	Change Orders	Bill Owens, CGR, CAPS
3:00-4:00 p.m.	Remodeling Roundtable (Open Forum)	Vince Butler, CGR, CAPS, GMB (Moderator)

The 2005 Remodeling Show and conference will be held Oct. 12-15 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore.

Systems-Built SHOWCASE Relocates to Louisville

The Building Systems Councils’ SHOWCASE — the annual networking, education, and trade show event for all facets of the systems-built housing industry — has been relocated from New Orleans to Louisville, Ky. The show’s dates remain Nov. 6-9 and its overall format remains intact.

The SHOWCASE host hotel will be the Louisville Marriott Downtown. SHOWCASE attendees can take advantage of a special $139 per night room rate as soon as the room block becomes available.

All registrations for SHOWCASE 2005 have automatically been transferred to the Louisville event, including the golf tournament and spouse/guest programs.

SHOWCASE features the finest in concrete, log, modular and panelized home construction. Show highlights include a two-day trade show, several general and breakout education sessions and ample networking opportunities.

The SHOWCASE Web site is continually being updated with the latest information on the Louisville relocation.

For more specific information about SHOWCASE or systems-built housing, contact the Building Systems Councils at 800-368-5242 x8576.

NCBC Offers Discounted Rates to New Members

The National Commercial Builders Council (NCBC) is seeking new members who are ready to diversify their home building business to include commercial construction or who are adapting to less land availability in their area.

The commercial builders council offers members a variety of tools that will help members expand into or grow within the commercial building industry.

NCBC is offering new members a $30 discount off the regular annual dues rate of $75. Builders who join by Oct. 31 qualify for the discounted rate of $45.

Subscriptions to Commercial Builder magazine are also available without membership for $79.

NAHB membership is required to join NCBC. Builders who are unsure of their membership status should contact their local home builders associaton for more information.

For more information about the discounted rate for new members, e-mail Jill Pivovarov at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8455.

Remodelers Eligible for Free PREP After Completing Puzzle

Attendees of the Remodeling Show in Baltimore on Oct. 12-15 may be eligible to take the Professional Remodelers Experience Profile (PREP) assessment for free ― a $195 value — if they are chosen from among those who successfully complete an interactive puzzle at the show.

The PREP assessment is a remodeler’s first step to becoming Certified Graduate Remodelor (CGR) candidate and measures knowledge in five core areas of remodeling business management — sales and marketing; business administration; design, estimating and job costing; contracts, liability and risk management: and project management.

With a CGR designation — a professional designation that emphasizes business management skills as a key to a professional remodeling operation — remodelers gain recognition as industry leaders and stand out in a crowded marketplace.

To be eligible for this free PREP opportunity, visit the NAHB Remodelors™ Council booth at the Remodeling Show (#721) to pick up the puzzle frame and start collecting the puzzle pieces at the show. The first 50 attendees to complete a puzzle will be given the opportunity to take the PREP assessment.

The PREP assessment will be given Saturday, Oct. 15 at the show. Attendees are requested to bring their own supplies ― a pencil, scrap paper, calculator and ruler.

Education Calendar

Whether you’re new to the industry, hope to make your next career move or want to improve your company’s bottom line, The NAHB University of Housing can assist you in your education pursuits.

Visit www.nahb.org/education for a comprehensive listing of courses throughout the country. Be sure to visit often in order to view the most up-to-date information in your area.

Subscribe Your Employees to Nation’s Building News — and Earn a Chance to Win Digital Camera

Make your connection to the latest housing industry news and information with www.nahb.org — the official public and members-only Web site of NAHB.

Log in today to register for educational seminars, meetings and networking events; find important economic and housing data; and learn the latest developments in NAHB’s efforts to promote housing. It’s all available 24 hours a day at www.nahb.org. Just click the "Log In" button to get started.

Once you log in, personalize the site to reflect your interests. Simply go to the My NAHB>My Profile page and click the “Edit Content Preferences” link. To learn more about how you can customize My NAHB — including how to customize the links that appear on the Home page ― visit the How to Use www.nahb.org section.

CRS Credits Accepted Toward IRM Designation

NAHB’s Institute of Residential Marketing (IRM) is now accepting 10 elective credits of The Council of Residential Specialist (CRS) courses toward IRM designations.

CRS and IRM each provide highly recognized designations within the residential sales and marketing industry. CRS members primarily focus on existing homes, while IRM members focus on new homes.

“We hope this is the start of a long and continuing connection with CRS and their designees,” said IRM President Jean Ewell, MIRM, CMP.

Holders of CRS designations now will be eligible to receive a maximum of 10 elective credits towards earning their Certified New Home Marketing Professional (CMP) and Member, Institute of Residential Marketing MIRM designations. Also CMP and MIRM designees can use selected CRS courses to count as credit towards their continuing professional education.

Although CRS and IRM serve different sectors of the residential market, their memberships often overlap. Many CRS members and designees are also IRM designees because they sell and market new homes. Many IRM designees hold CRS designations because of their work in resale homes.

“CRS is proud to be recognized by such a well respected association who puts a high value on the education of it's members and looks forward to other collaborative opportunities,” said Toni Sherman, director of business relations, CRS.

The Council of Residential Specialists is the largest not-for-profit affiliate of the National Association of Realtors®. With more than 44,000 members in the United States and abroad, it awards the CRS designation to experienced Realtors® who have completed advanced professional training.

Late Entry Deadline for The Nationals Awards Is Sept. 28

Late entries are still being accepted for The Nationals — the 2006 National Sales and Marketing awards, the largest and most prestigious competition for new-home sales and marketing professionals and communities.

Sponsored by NAHB’s National Sales and Marketing Council, The Nationals recognizes innovation and excellence in 53 categories, including the best in architectural achievement, product and community design, advertising and promotion, interior merchandising, Web site design and more. The awards are open to individual sales and marketing professionals, home builders, associates and sales and marketing councils.

Category winners will be honored during a gala event at the International Builders' Show in Orlando, Fla. on Jan. 11.

For more information, visit www.TheNationals.com, or call Lisa Parrish at 800-658-2751 or 909-987-2758.

For additional cutting-edge sales and marketing information, subscribe to NAHB’s Sales + Marketing Ideas magazine. Call 800-368-5242 x8192 or visit www.smimagazine.com to subscribe or order a copy. Click here to learn about membership benefits of the National Sales and Marketing Council and the Institute of Residential Marketing.

Mesquite Manor: Affordable Housing for Farm Workers

A new development in Salinas, Calif., is providing homes for farm workers and other working families in an area where housing prices are fast outpacing incomes of low- and moderate-income households.

Developed by Community Housing Improvement Systems & Planning Association (CHISPA), Mesquite Manor is a 52-home subdivision located on a seven-acre parcel in northeast Salinas. Because of skyrocketing house prices, CHISPA worked with the city and local residents to rezone the land from commercial to residential. Salinas is in Monterey County, about 15 miles northeast of Monterey.

Of the 52 homes, 25 were homes constructed and owned by eligible farm worker families participating in CHISPA’s mutual self-help housing program. Families in the program have household earnings that are 80% or less of median family income for Monterey County. Many of the participants are employed by several of the largest agricultural growers in the county.

The remaining 27 homes provided first-time homeownership opportunities for households earning 120% or less of the county’s median household income. These included teachers, nurses, city and county employees, entry-level professionals and special-needs households, such as those caring for foster children or developmentally disabled adults.

The one- and two-story homes in the award-winning project were built by CHISPA’s subsidiary construction company Central Coast Residential Builders. The homes were sold through a lottery to qualified applicants at prices affordable to the individual households at their income level.

The Mesquite Manor homes, which range from 1,100 to 1,500 square feet, all have two baths and three or four bedrooms. There are five different floor plans and multiple elevations on 4,000 to 5,000 square-foot lots.

The homes are built with wood-frame construction, slab foundations, stucco exteriors, tile roofs and two-car garages. A park, elementary school, shopping center and public transportation are all within walking distance of the neighborhood.

“The Innovation in Workforce Housing Awards emphasize creativity in community design, financing and in partnering with other community groups,” said Bobby Rayburn, immediate past president of NAHB and a home and apartment builder from Jackson, Miss. “Mesquite Manor is an excellent example of a development that is meeting the needs of working families in a very expensive housing market.”

Entries for the 2005 Innovations in Workforce Housing Awards Now Being Accepted

The 2005 Innovations in Workforce Housing Awards are open to builders, architects, designers, developers and land planners for communities completed (or for which the first model opened or the first unit was occupied) between Jan. 1, 2003 and Oct. 28, 2005 All entries, including supporting materials, should be postmarked by Oct. 28 to be eligible for inclusion in the competition. Winning entries will be announced at the 2006 International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla.

For more information about entry guidelines, or to get a copy of the entry form, go to www.nahb.org/workforcehousing or e-mail Blake Smith, or call him at 800-358-5242 x8583.

Patsy and Herman Smith Fund to Support Trades Training

Patsy Smith, chairman of the board of the Home Builders Institute (HBI) and a builder/developer in Ft. Worth, Texas, has donated $10,000 to the National Housing Endowment to establish The Patsy and Herman Smith Fund for Excellence in the Trades.

The announcement was made during the HBI Board of Trustees meeting earlier this month in Reno, Nev.

Married for 44 years to the late Herman Smith, who was a former NAHB president and prominent land developer and philanthropist, Patsy Smith has been a long-time supporter of HBI’s multi-faceted initiatives to address the industry’s need for workers in the skilled trades.

In recent years, funding cuts, escalating costs and limited resources have placed constraints on HBI’s training programs and the institute’s ability to fully address the various and growing needs of its students.

The new fund will provide direct support to HBI training programs and eligible students in need.

“From updating classroom equipment and tools to helping a new graduate buy a pair of work boots, the money will be disbursed directly to where it is needed most, and done so quickly,” Smith said.

Smith said that she was inspired to establish the new fund when Lowe’s Home Improvement renewed its commitment to HBI’s Job Corps students through a $50,000 contribution to the HBI/Lowe’s Building Careers Scholarship program.

The workforce development arm of NAHB, HBI has helped more than 250,000 people enter careers in the home building industry. Its programs provide skills in the building trades for people of all ages, promote career opportunities in the industry and help meet the labor needs of the residential construction industry.

For more information, e-mail Maria McIntyre at HBI, or call her at 800-795-7955 x8912.

The deadline for advanced registration — and corresponding lower registration fees — for the annual Sunbelt Builders Show (SBS) is Friday, Sept. 30.

After that date, registration fees for the builders' show will be higher and attendees will be charged $50 for now free "expo-only" tickets.

The 2005 Sunbelt Builders Show, which features what's new in this region's booming housing market, will be held Oct. 12-15 at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas.

More than 300 exhibitors and nearly 5,000 builders, custom builders, remodelers and contractors are expected to attend. The exhibit floor is completely sold out.

In addition, special events planned at SBS include an EPA/OSHA conclave in which attendees can talk with OSHA and EPA representatives from Region 6, the Excellence in Leadership Dinner, a Star Awards recognition ceremony and a two-hour Delaney Vineyard wine tour.

The Sunbelt Builders Show is produced and managed by NAHB, which owns and manages the largest annual home building event, the International Builders’ Show.

Be sure to stop by the BuilderBooks Bookstore at the Sunbelt Builders’ Show for great books, great savings and great giveaways. Stock on the books you need to build your business. Merchandise with the Sunbelt Builders’ Show logo will also be available. BuilderBooks.com Reward participants, don’t forget to show your Rewards card to receive an additional 5% off your purchase.

Patio Doors Built to Withstand Hurricanes

Among the many U.S. manufacturers offering building products geared to helping homes withstand high winds, coastal storms and windborne debris, Therma-Tru is introducing laminated patio door glass that can stand up to hurricane conditions.

Therma’s Tru’s new impact-rated glass for its Slim-Line Patio Door Systems has a DP-50 rating on doors up to 8-feet tall and 9-feet wide for water and structural and windborne debris, according to the manufacturer.

This rating assures that the door can structurally withstand 171 mph winds, water penetration of 8 inches of rain per hour driven by 54 mph winds and air infiltration equal to 25 mph winds.

The Slimi-Line fiberglass door system features trouble-free tracks, tempered Low-E glass and double weather-stripping to reduce callbacks and provide comfort and energy efficiency. Fiberglass pultruded lineals won’t warp, crack, rot, swell or split, says Therma-Tru.

This feature is solely for educational and informational purposes. Nothing on this page should be construed as policy, an endorsement, warranty or guaranty by the National Association of Home Builders of the featured product or the product manufacturer. The National Association of Home Builders expressly disclaims any responsibility for any damages arising from the use, application or reliance on any information contained on this page.

Nation's Building News Online: September 26, 2005

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