NBN Online for the week of March 5, 2007

Procrastinating Home Buyers May Lose Price Advantage

Mirroring what is occurring in many of the nation’s top housing markets, conditions in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, which includes Northern Virginia and the Maryland suburbs, show that the market correction is winding down during the first half of this year, according to Stephen Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University.

The first in a series of reports commissioned by the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association and the Maryland National Capital Building Association, the study — "Understanding the Local Housing Market" — suggests significant repercussions for prospective buyers who delay their purchases much longer in hopes that they will find even better deals in the local housing market. Excess units on the market are already beginning to dwindle, and prices are expected to stabilize by the middle of the year, the report concludes.

[MORE]

Lumber Prices Provided by Random Lengths

Conference Puts Green Homes on Tour in St. Louis This Month

A tour of seven green homes in the St. Louis area will be a highlight of the ninth annual NAHB National Green Building Conference on March 25-27. Advance registration closes this Friday, March 9.

The homes in the March 25 tour, which will be led by members of the St. Louis HBA, are both new and remodeled and in various sages of construction. All have been rated or will be rated in accordance with the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines.

On the day’s itinerary:

• Sage Homebuilders is presenting the Near-Zero Energy Home with the support of conference exhibitor Owens-Corning. The home’s cottage-style façade helps demonstrate that green homes do not have to look like “a rocket ship,” said Rick Hunter, Sage’s managing partner. The home is constructed of insulated concrete foam (ICF) panels on the foundation and first floor and clad in cultured stone and fiber cement cedar shake siding.

  [MORE]

Apply for ‘Buy Now’ Advertising Assistance Grants From NAHB

If your local association is currently engaged in an ongoing advertising campaign in print, radio or television outlets, or if you are planning such a campaign, have your association apply for a “Buy Now” advertising assistance grant from NAHB. HBAs from around the country have already applied. 

To date, 21 local associations have applied for $581,000 in grants from the $1 million to be awarded during the first phase of the program. Another $2 million will be made available if the program is successful.

NAHB launched the multi-million dollar grant program last month to assist local home builders associations in an effort to bolster home sales in markets hit hard by the current housing downturn and help offset the cost of local ad campaigns.

Share Nation's Building News With Your Staff. It's Free.

Make your business click. Subscribe your employees and trade partners to Nation's Building News — the free, online e-newspaper of NAHB.

Each issue is filled with valuable news and information on every aspect of the home building industry — business and builders tips; the latest materials prices and mortgage interest rates; new technologies; cutting-edge design; state and federal regulations and how they affect the industy; and more. Information your entire company needs to stay ahead of your competitors.