NBN Online for the week of April 2, 2007

Green Building to Become a $40-$50 Billion Market by 2010

More than 1,000 housing industry professionals in St. Louis last week to attend the ninth annual NAHB Green Building Conference heard that sustainable building products and techniques are advancing quickly into the mainstream and that NAHB is moving aggressively to bring the movement to national prominence.

Based on a survey of NAHB home builders conducted last year by McGraw-Hill Construction, up to 10% of the homes built in 2010  — a $40 billion to $50 billion market — are expected to be green, containing at least three of five green building elements. That represents a major upsurge of activity in the green market.

Last year, according to McGraw-Hill estimates, an estimated 2% — or $7.4 billion — of the residential construction market was green.

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Lumber Prices Provided by Random Lengths

Fed Chief Sees Uncertainty in Near-Term Housing Outlook

Mortgage interest rates remained low last week as housing analysts pondered mixed-signals about the direction of the industry and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke warned the Joint Economic Committee of the Congress of the possibility that problems with subprime loans could make the current market correction worse than expected.

“The near-term prospects for the housing market remain uncertain,” Bernanke testified. “Sales of new and existing homes were about flat, on balance, during the second half of the year. So far this year, sales of existing homes have held up, as have other indicators of demand such as mortgage applications for home purchase, and mortgage rates remain relatively low.”

‘Buy Now’ Advertising Assistance Nears $1 Million. Apply Now.

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” matching advertising assistance grant from NAHB. HBAs from around the country have already applied and have begun to receive their assistance funds. 

To date, 38 local associations have applied for advertising assistance grants from the $1 million to be awarded during the first phase of the program, and $932,429 has been approved. The total cost of the campaigns is $3.5 million. Another $2 million will be made available if the program is successful, and HBAs are encouraged to apply now.

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.

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