NBN Online for the week of February 27, 2006

Something for Everyone in Home Design Trends

Few crystal balls can provide as much insight into what matters most to home buyers as the group of industry-leading architects, builders, interior merchandisers and interested friends that gathered recently for an NAHB Design Committee roundtable discussion of the trends shaping new home design.

Here are their insights:

First-Time Buyers

For this demographic group, sky-rocketing land costs dictate housing design changes. As the per-acre price of land continues to rise, the cost equation for first-time buyers increasingly means that the “American Dream” begins with attached housing and at much higher densities than ever before.

[MORE]

Lumber Prices Provided by Random Lengths

Secretary Snow Hears Energy, Housing Affordability Issues

NAHB President David Pressly and fellow home builders Steve Temkin and Connecticut State Representative Greg Ugalde joined Treasury Secretary John Snow in Torrington, Conn. on Feb. 22 for a press event highlighting what the nation’s home builders and the Bush Administration are doing to promote residential energy efficiency.

The secretary called attention to the importance of energy-efficient housing and announced new IRS guidelines for tax credits that provide incentives for energy-saving features in home building and remodeling.

Property Owner Protections Upheld by Oregon Supreme Court

In a huge win for property owners in the state, the Oregon Supreme Court on Feb. 21 overturned a trial court decision in the case of MacPherson v. DAS and upheld the constitutionality of a measure designed to provide landowners with recourse against state or local land use regulations that restrict the use of their property and reduce its fair market value.

The Oregon Home Builders Association and NAHB filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case.