Nation's Building News Online: May 12, 2008Print All Articles Text Version |
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Housing Bill Moves Forward One Week After Builder Visits
“On April 30, more than 1,200 home builders delivered an urgent message to Congress to enact legislation to jump-start housing, save jobs and restore confidence,” said NAHB President Sandy Dunn. “H.R. 3221 would help achieve these aims. With the economy on the edge of a deep recession, we urge House and Senate negotiators to move swiftly to reconcile their differences and craft a final bill that the President can sign into law in order to bring much-needed relief to the American people.” The House bill would create a first-time home buyer tax credit up to $7,500 for the purchase of any home for those who earn less than $70,000 annually, after which it phases out, at $140,000 for married couples. The credit would become available as of April 9, 2008 and expire on April 1, 2009. Home buyers would be required to repay the credit to the government, without interest, over 15 years. “The tax credit is the most effective way to halt the downward spiral in the housing market and stabilize home prices and financial markets,” said Dunn. “This will get consumers off the fence, stimulate home buying and reduce excess supply in housing markets.” The bill would also modernize the Federal Housing Administration and provide comprehensive reform for housing government sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The legislation would also make permanent the higher maximum $729,750 loan limit for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA loans that was included in the economic stimulus package passed earlier this year. “These measures will provide a stable source of consumer-friendly mortgage funding, lower the cost of capital in housing markets and free up more funds for home purchases or to refinance troubled loans,” said Dunn. The legislation would also make significant enhancements to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and tax-exempt housing bond programs, which would increase their effectiveness. In addition, it would provide for a temporary increase in state mortgage revenue bond authority to help strapped borrowers seeking to refinance their home loans. Bush Threatens Veto Although the House legislation contains many elements espoused by the Administration, including FHA revitalization and a regulatory overhaul for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, President Bush said he would veto the legislation as it currently stands. Specifically, Bush objected to the home buyer tax credit provision and a measure championed by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) that would allow the FHA to insure up to $300 billion worth of refinanced mortgages if lenders reduce the outstanding principal and make them more affordable for borrowers. Bush charged that this measure would “reward speculators and lenders” while doing little to relieve the nation’s mortgage crisis. “I will veto the bill that is moving through the House today if it makes it to my desk,” Bush told reporters the day before the House passed its bill. NAHB Advocacy Efforts Before the legislation went to the House floor, NAHB sent a letter to the House leadership urging members of Congress to support the bill. Because of the importance of this legislation to the housing industry, NAHB designated support for two amendments dealing with tax and housing policy issues as key votes. The two amendments were subsequently approved with bipartisan support. As part of the NAHB Legislative Conference on April 30, builders from across the country traveled to the nation’s capital and flooded the switchboards on Capitol Hill calling on Congress to move quickly to avert an economic crisis by passing a housing stimulus package. In conjunction with its legislative conference, NAHB also conducted a satellite media tour. Several builders in Washington appeared with their congressional representative and were interviewed by media from their home markets to discuss local housing conditions and the need for Congress to take prompt action to shore up housing and the economy. NAHB Executive Vice President and CEO Jerry Howard was also interviewed to provide a national perspective. The interviews aired nationally and in 10 local media markets, including Reno, Nev.; Sacramento, Calif.; Waco, Texas; Albuquerque, N.M.; Rochester, N.Y.; Lexington, Ky.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Des Moines, Iowa; Orlando, Fla.; and northern Pennsylvania. In addition, Howard and North Carolina builder Rick Judson appeared on CNBC’s Power Lunch to discuss the NAHB Legislative Conference and the association’s housing priorities. Howard was also interviewed by Politico on the same topics. A May 3 article in the Wall Street Journal highlighted the success of NAHB’s legislative conference. The story noted that 300 personal visits and 1,200 phone calls from NAHB members helped to move forward a sweeping housing stimulus package.
House bill H.R. 3221 now must be reconciled with a narrower housing stimulus package that passed the Senate last month. “Given the current economic climate, Congress needs to act now to enact the best possible legislation to help ailing home owners and shore up home prices. This will pay huge dividends for consumers, housing and the entire economy,” said Dunn. To read H.R. 3221, click here and enter the bill number in the box at the center of the page. For more information, e-mail Michael Strauss at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8252.
Photos by Herman Farrer Floor Plans: College Vista Leaves No College Faculty or Staff Behind
Architect:
College Vista, with its sweeping views of San Francisco Bay and the surrounding hills, provides affordable housing for the faculty and staff of the College of San Mateo in an area dominated by prohibitively high housing costs. Developed as workforce housing by Mill Valley, Calif.-based Education Housing Partners, the 44-unit rental community built on the community college’s campus offers one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, all with attached balconies or patios. Each apartment features a large kitchen with upgraded cabinetry, a walk-in closet in the master bedroom, nine-foot ceilings and a laundry room. In addition, 39 apartments have attached garages. College Vista was named the 2008 Multifamily Pillars of the Industry award winner in the Best Affordable Apartment Community category.
Rents from the apartments are sufficient to pay all construction costs, financing, operations and long-term maintenance. All project costs were financed. No public tax dollars were used to pay for or operate the community.
Architectural details helped overcome neighborhood opposition. San Mateo County Community College District trustees began looking into a project in 2002 because the district was having difficulty recruiting faculty and staff because of high area housing costs. In additon, those who did accept jobs at the college didn’t stay long. The faculty turnover rate before College Vista was 10% to 11% a year, said Barbara Christensen, the College Vista director of community and government relations. Since the district could not afford to increase salaries, it began offering low-cost second mortgages of up to $75,000 to help teachers buy homes. But the mortgage assistance program proved to be insufficient because many teachers, especially younger ones still paying off their student loans, could not save the 3% downpayment required by the loan program. Education Housing Partners, of Thompson Dorfman Partners LLC, filled the void by building College Vista, the second workforce housing community the company developed for a public school district.
Each apartment has a separate deck or patio. Designed by Irvine, Calif.-based KTGY Group, College Vista features two craftsman-style buildings accented with green roofs and dark brown stucco and lap siding designed to blend with the natural landscape surrounding the highly visible site. College Vista's site planning and architecture required particular sensitivity to its immediate surroundings — deeded open space and an established luxury single-family home subdivision — because of vocal opposition from several neighborhood groups. To convince the opposition of the merits of the new community, the principals of Education Housing Partners initiated an extensive outreach campaign to engage the community and understand its issues ― primarily the introduction of affordable housing in their "backyards" and the anticipated visual and economic impact they thought the would have on their neighborhood.
Once the issues were identified and addressed to the neighbors' satisfaction, the surrounding community gave its support to the project. And because of this support, San Mateo quickly approved it. Opened in 2005, today faculty members like Brandon Smith, who teaches English as a second language, can walk to work and class in 10 minutes. But College Vista is not just for teachers at the community college. It is also home to elementary school teachers like Stacy Corsiglia and to teachers and coaches at other nearby community colleges. College Vista has been fully occupied since the project was completed and more than 90 faculty and staff are on its waiting list.
Foreclosure Hike Tied to Single-Family Permit Drop in Most StatesRising foreclosure rates show a strong correlation with declining single-family housing permits, according to a new research study from NAHB economists, but market dynamics vary so widely that there are “extreme” variations in how foreclosures, production, house prices and homeownership rates match up on a state by state basis. The study takes a hard look at unfamiliar trends in many local housing markets over the past year or two — including rising foreclosure rates, declining production and prices of owner-occupied housing and a falling homeownership rate. In California, for example, the rate of all mortgages going into foreclosure was 1.04% during last year’s fourth quarter and 4.62% for subprime loans, increases of 158% and 146%, respectively, from the same period of 2006. Meanwhile, single-family permits for the period were issued at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 47,912 in the last three months of 2007, a historically low number for the state and a decline of 43% from the 84,493 posted in the fourth quarter of 2006, which itself was down more than 40% from the fourth quarter of 2005. The purchase-only housing price index of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) showed that California’s house prices dropped 11.5% on average between the fourth quarter of 2006 and the fourth quarter of 2007. The state’s homeownership rate over that same period fell 2.3 percentage points, from 60.0% to 57.7% Accompanying the special study are tables providing statistics on these four variables for all 50 states and the District of Columbia from the first quarter of 2000 through the fourth quarter of 2007, as well as results from the research on particular relationships among the variables. The tables are available only to subscribers of HousingEconomics.com. Of the variables analyzed, rising foreclosures were the strongest predictor of a downturn in housing production. “The most immediate impact from a rise in foreclosures is an increase in existing homes on the market and competing with new construction for customers,” according to the report. “This is one factor that will tend to drive new production down, and the correlation is one way to measure the strength of this effect.”
“The most frequently cited causes for increased foreclosures in this time period have been falling house prices, unaffordable mortgage loans and rising unemployment. Falling house prices will also chill new production as builders attempt to reprice existing inventory and find ways to reduce costs to compete at lower price points,” the study says. “Falling house prices can also cause mortgage rates and availability to tighten, which eliminates some buyers and reduces demand. Rising unemployment also reduces demand as households see declines in their income. Hence, the rise in foreclosures has both a supply and a demand impact on the housing market and one reaction is lower production.” Single-family permits take a bigger hit from rising foreclosures than multifamily permits, the report points out, because foreclosures tend to depress homeownership and increase demand for multifamily rental properties. The NAHB research found the strongest correlation between rising foreclosures and declining single-family permits in Michigan, California, Massachusetts and Nevada — “states where the anecdotal evidence of problems in housing and mortgage markets has been quite strong.” And while the relationship between foreclosures and permits was “generally strong and persistent,” the negative correlation between supbprime foreclosures and single-family permits was not found in three states — Alaska, Maryland and Iowa — and the negative correlation between total foreclosures and permits was not found in 13 states, for various reasons. The study identified other strong correlations between such factors as changes in house prices and foreclosures a year later, “but the state-to-state variation proved to be extreme. For this reason, it would be wise to avoid general conclusions for the country as a whole and focus instead on the pairwise correlations among foreclosures, production, house prices and homeownership one state at a time." For more information, e-mail Paul Emrath at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8449.
Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2008 to 2009 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables. To learn more, visit www.HousingEconomics.com.
Free NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips to Navigate the Slowdown What was once expected to be a relatively mild housing slump following three years of record new home construction and sales has given way to a significant downturn. To help members navigate the uncharted waters of this slowdown, NAHB has compiled a comprehensive “Back to Basics” online toolkit — the best of the basics, the tried and true and the truly new. To access the toolkit, click here. To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar. For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242. Catch 'The Big Hunt' Webcast On National Membership Day, May 20NAHB members and membership chairmen will don bush jackets and pith helmets for ”The Big Hunt” — the National Membership Day webcast on Tuesday, May 20 to help grow and revitalize their local builders associations. But a hungry lion, elephant and gorilla have no intention of becoming fair game during NAHB’s annual event this year. Instead, they’ll be stalking members and HBAs for commitments on new members and retention during the three-hour webcast. “Over the years, National Membership Day has become a key part of our culture,” says Vince Butler, NAHB membership chairman. “It’s always an exciting event.”
What will be prowling during "The Big Hunt" webcast? HBA members who were traditionally considered “safe” are now at risk because of economic conditions and the industry downturn. As a consequence, the nationwide retention rate has slipped from 80.5% in 2006 to 74.9% at last count. To give members and HBAs the tools to boost retention, as part of this year’s webcast, “The Big Hunt” will hold a retention roundtable with participants discussing the successful methods their HBAs employed to raise their retention rates. Participating in the roundtable discussions will be:
Membership Day Webcast “The Big Hunt” membership day webcast will be broadcast from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST Tuesday, May 20. HBAs should be prepared to call NAHB at 800-899-6242 during the webcast to have May membership projections officially recorded and posted during the membership day event. For more information about “The Big Hunt” campaign, visit www.nahb.org/membershipday, or call the NAHB Membership Team at 800-368-5242 x8440. For membership day resources, visit www.nahb.org/BigHunt08. Wichita Builders Give Buyers a Boost in ConfidenceThe Wichita, Kan., housing market was in pretty good shape at the beginning of 2008, with its single-family permits down less than 10% for 2007, compared to 24% for the state and 30% for the country. Economic indicators were also good. The unemployment rate was lower and payroll employment and home prices were higher than in 2006. But buyer confidence was beginning to falter. So the Wichita Area Builders Association (WABA) went on the offense to help keep their market as healthy as it could be. “We needed to be preemptive so our members didn’t find themselves in a hole they couldn’t dig out of,” said WABA President and CEO Wesley Gaylon. The members agreed. They raised $100,000 in just two weeks to launch an extensive media campaign. The association ran television, radio and print advertisements in local media outlets for five weeks, and following a two-week break it ran ads for its Parade of Homes. Held over three consecutive weekends in April, the parade featured more than 230 homes built by 69 local builders. Gaylon said that parade traffic was up and the feedback on the campaign from the public was positive. “Our campaign gave buyers a level of confidence they hadn’t been feeling,” he said. In fact, he added, after the parade several members scheduled meetings to move forward with new construction projects. The association also worked to develop a good working relationship with the media, which soon began to depict the Wichita market as "different" from what was being described in national headlines. Gaylon feels that the campaign has also helped the association’s members develop a different mindset for their marketing efforts. “It got them thinking about the need to constantly re-analyze their business, conduct self-audits and focus on product positioning,” he said. Gaylon advises builders and HBAs to “always keep in mind your strengths so you can stay on top when the market changes.” Members and locals around the country have used information and resources from NAHB to combat negative media stories and restore the confidence of hesitant buyers. Read their stories or access the Myth Buster resources by going to www.nahb.org/mythbuster. For more information, e-mail Gwyn Donohue at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8447. Restrictions Are the Rule for All Sorts of Once-Easy CreditLike a spreading infection, restrictions on credit are moving into new and more specialized niches of the mortgage market, including cash-out refinancings; loans with anything less than full documentation of borrower income, credit and assets; mortgages for certain second-home purchases; investment loan applications in which the buyer owns at least three other rental properties; mortgages to borrowers with “nontraditional” credit, such as “thin files” with scant information at the three national credit bureaus; short-term construction loans that convert to permanent mortgages; and adjustable-rate mortgages in which the first rate adjustment occurs within 60 months after closing. Private mortgage insurers, who provide loss coverage for lenders and investors on loans where downpayments are less than 20%, have begun rolling back a variety of products, especially in areas they define as distressed or declining. Genworth Financial, one of the largest insurers, told lenders that after May 5 it would no longer consider applications for second-home purchases in Florida. The policy is irrespective of borrowers’ credit scores, assets or other characteristics. (www.washingtonpost.com)
Home-Price Data Has Its FlawsTop officials with the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) and Standard & Poor’s, which issues the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, have agreed that their monthly reports are giving imprecise readings of price changes due to rare market conditions that are skewing survey results. The 7.7% decline reported by NAR for March resulted largely from a market anomaly — a steep decline in costlier home sales due to tighter lending standards and high jumbo-mortgage rates, coupled with a foreclosure-driven spike in cheaper homes. “If there are a lot more homes sold on the low end and fewer on the high end, the median price is bound to drop dramatically," said Lawrence Yun, the association’s chief economist. “In normal times, a median price would reflect typical home owner equity changes, but these are not normal times. The jumbo (mortgage) market is frozen and the buying activity is more concentrated in lower-value homes.” The S&P/Case-Shiller Home index, which posted a 12.7% decline for February, is skewed for two reasons of its own — it tracks just 20 major markets, many among the hardest hit, and its “repeat sales” survey by design pulls in individual homes both bought and sold in the last few years. Many of those are now being dumped by distressed home owners and investors who bought at peak market prices and face higher mortgage-rate adjustments. The glaring discrepancy with the Case-Schiller index is that 17 of the 20 metro areas posted record annual declines, and yet 78% of the 330 metro regions that NAR tracks reported price increases in the latest period — and that despite the acknowledged downward bias in current price readings. (www.marketwatch.com)
The Condo Owner’s DilemmaThree months after putting her trendy one-bedroom condo in the Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Adams Morgan on the market, Susannah Moss has yet to receive an offer. Now she wants to find a tenant for the apartment while she waits out the economy. But the condominium association allows only 20% of the units to be leased at any one time, so she is on a waiting list. If she tries to rent the unit without permission, she could face a $500-a-month fine. Among other things, the rental restriction is meant to guard against the condo being viewed as a risky investment by lenders who believe that buildings with a high concentration of rentals are harder to market to home buyers. Fannie Mae will not guarantee a loan for a condo in which renters make up more than 49% of the occupants. Rental caps are as low as 10% in some condo communities, said Jason Fisher, vice president of the board of directors of the Washington area chapter of the Community Associations Institute. At the same time, the Federal Housing Administration has proposed lowering its requirement that 51% of a condo building be owner-occupied to 33%, part of an overhaul and streamlining of its operation that is pending before Congress. Currently, about 2% of FHA loans are made for condos, and it can take three months for agency approval because of overlapping requirements, said Meg Burns, director of FHA single-family program development. (www.washingtonpost.com)
The Accidental RentersHouseholds who have lost their homes to foreclosure are scrambling to find a place to rent, with rental properties in short supply in many markets, pushing prices higher. Also, some landlords are imposing tougher credit requirements on people who have gone through foreclosure. A study by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies shows that U.S. renter households increased by nearly one million last year — four times the pace of renter growth from 2003 to 2006 — to 35.1 million. Competition for rental properties has pushed up average rents to a record $775 a month, says the Harvard center. Since only about one-third of rental properties are single-family houses as opposed to apartments, it can be hard for foreclosed home owners to find an equivalent, affordable place to rent, says William Apgar, the center’s senior scholar. And though hundreds of thousands of houses and condos have gone back to the banks that lent money on them, few of these properties are being offered to tenants because lenders don’t want to be in the property-management business. Mark Verge, owner of WestsideRentals.com, an apartment-finding service in Santa Monica, Calif., says he’s getting 7,000 to 8,000 inquiries a month from would-be renters, up 15% compared with last year. Many are from people who are facing or have gone through foreclosure, he says. The problem could get worse. Foreclosure filings were reported on 649,917 properties in 2008’s first quarter, up 23% from the previous quarter and 116% from a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac. (www.marketwatch.com) Teardown Diary: Keeping Home Construction Safe From Crime and Bumblebee GraffitiAcross the country, in residential construction alone, theft of materials and appliances, and the damage caused during the course of those crimes, ranges from $1 billion to $2 billion annually, according to NAHB. That’s enough to push the prices of new homes up 1% to 2% every year. The first line of defense is to get home owner’s insurance that covers construction. Sometimes contractors will pay for the Builder’s Risk insurance and sometimes it is split, with home owners covering theft of materials and the contractor covering anything that isn’t yet installed. Surveillance cameras on the construction site are another line of defense, but it can be expensive to maintain the computer storage needed for 24-hour surveillance, bad weather can ruin a shot and there’s little to stop a thief from just stealing the camera. Contractors can take many other security steps, according to a guide released by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Options include limiting the number of projects each supervisor is responsible for; coordinating deliveries of materials and appliances so that they are delivered and installed close to the time that the items will be secured or the house will be occupied; screening subcontractors; and putting in fences. (online.wsj.com)
Five Questions With Brian Binash; He Sees Resilience in Houston HousingThe Houston housing market will probably register 30,000 starts this year, making 2008 one of the area’s five or six strongest for housing production, according to Brian Binash, president of the Greater Houston Builders Association and Wilshire Homes. In “the perceived heyday before the late 1970s, early 1980s, we were only doing 28,000 to 32,000 starts,” he said in an interview following his attendance at the NAHB spring board meeting in Washington, D.C. “We were doing 45,000 to 50,000 starts a few years ago, which was a lot. Some of that was fueled by some subprime home sales. Some of the people that would be in the marketplace today got in earlier because of that, but it’s not in the marketplace today. We don’t have the subprime issues anymore, but we’ve gone way too far the other way. The standards are too tight today.” Among the biggest challenges he faces this year as president of the builders association, he said, is “making sure we get the Houston story out front and center — not just what happened in Virginia or Boston or Detroit. Houston’s very different, and we want to make sure people understand that we are not experiencing the same problems. (www.chron.com) Tight Credit for Builder Loans Could Prolong Housing SlumpThe mortgage credit crunch has spilled over into the housing production loan market, threatening to prolong the current housing downturn, NAHB told Congress on April 30.
"The mortgage credit crunch will continue to be the most significant factor impacting the home building industry into the foreseeable future," Scott Eckstein, a home builder from Naperville, Ill. and president of the Illinois Home Builders Association, told the House Small Business Subcommittee on Finance and Tax. "There is deep concern that the dislocations in the financing markets will increase the depth and length of the housing downturn." Despite concerted efforts of central banks here and abroad, Eckstein said that the credit crunch appears to be actually worsening. "Tighter mortgage lending terms have made it difficult for home buyers to obtain financing to purchase new homes,” Eckstein said. “Likewise, builders are reporting an adverse shift in terms and availability on loans for land acquisition, land development and home construction (AD&C)." Residential AD&C loans are used to purchase land; develop lots; build a project's infrastructure such as streets, curbs, sidewalks, lighting, and sewer and utility connections; and construct homes. Builders with outstanding AD&C loans are facing mounting challenges because lenders receiving current appraisals that reflect lower values on lots and homes are seeking additional equity for outstanding credit and balking at loan extensions. "Defaults on AD&C loans are rising. In this environment, banks are actively reducing exposure levels to home credit," said Eckstein. To broaden sources of AD&C credit, Eckstein called for:
Meanwhile, stimulating demand for homes and stabilizing housing prices during the important spring home buying season would do the most to relieve the financing and other business difficulties faced by home builders, he said. As Congress continues work on housing stimulus legislation, Eckstein urged lawmakers to pass a final bill that would provide a temporary home buyer tax credit, allow businesses to carry back net operating losses beyond the current two years and expand the mortgage revenue bond program. For more information, e-mail Dave Ledford at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8265. Policy Makers Honored for Pro-Housing InitiativesIn conjunction with the recent NAHB Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was among four local, state and federal officials honored on May 1 by NAHB for policy initiatives that seek to rally the economy by strengthening the housing sector. "From city halls to the halls of the U.S. Capitol, you'll find government officials who understand the importance of housing to the economy," said NAHB Chief Lobbyist Joseph Stanton. "We're proud to honor these leaders for their efforts in support of housing." NAHB's Government Affairs Recognition Program honors public officials whose efforts contribute to expanding housing opportunities and strengthening the building industry. Also honored were state representatives Johnny Hoyt and Lance Reynolds of Arkansas, and Curt Pringle, the mayor of Anaheim, Calif. Frank was named the 2008 Federal Official of the Year in recognition of his policy initiatives in the 110th Congress to rally the nation’s economy by addressing the housing downturn. As chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank has worked to provide reasonably-priced, affordable mortgage solutions to millions of potential home owners and to greatly enhancing liquidity in the mortgage credit markets. Frank has also led efforts to modernize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and reform the regulatory structure for the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) — Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks. "Housing is a central element to driving the American economy," Frank said upon receiving the award. "We will do everything we can to promote homeownership and we will also help those who can't afford a home." "With the U.S. housing market now in the most pronounced downswing since the Great Depression, Chairman Frank's strong leadership has brought a keen focus to the problems our industry is currently experiencing, while providing much needed legislative solutions to help consumers, housing and the economy," Stanton said. NAHB recognized Hoyt and Reynolds for their efforts to discourage construction site theft. Reynolds was instrumental in the passage of legislation (HR 2361) that classifies the theft of building materials worth $500 or more from a permitted site a Class B felony. Hoyt was responsible for passage of legislation (HR 1456) that allows builders in Arkansas to use PEX piping under slab in residential construction, reducing materials costs and, more importantly, reducing copper theft and repair costs resulting from the thefts. “Every time someone steals copper or equipment from a construction site, that is money out of the builder’s pocket and money out of the home buyer’s pocket,” Stanton said. “Arkansas’ new anti-theft policies, championed by Representative Hoyt and Representative Reynolds, will make a difference, and we’d like to see more states enact similar laws.” NAHB recognized Pringle for his initiative in developing an economic stimulus package that was unanimously approved by the Anaheim City Council in a recent council meeting. The new policy includes several amendments to the city's current fee ordinance and administrative codes. “This stimulus packages will have a profound effect in reinvigorating new home construction in the City of Anaheim and will set a precedent for other cities in Southern California,” Stanton said. For more information, e-mail Elizabeth Ambrose at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8253. Ad Campaign Focuses on Urgent Need for Housing StimulusAn ongoing major ad campaign to promote passage of housing stimulus legislation and enahnce NAHB's presence on Capitol Hill as the “voice of America’s housing industry” is gaining the attention of Washington policymakers. Since the beginning of the year, the ads — appearing in USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times and other Washington-based newspapers and magazines — have focused on the need for Congress to take action to jump-start housing and the economy.
Most recently, during NAHB’s Legislative Conference on April 30, several ads appeared in the National Journal, Roll Call, Politico, CQ Today and CongressDaily AM stating that home builders were in Washington to deliver an urgent message to Congress to pass housing relief measures now. To ensure that lawmakers were listening, NAHB ran ads the following week under the headline: “Did you get the message, Congress?” On May 8, the House passed a major housing bill that contains several NAHB priorities, including a temporary first-time home buyer tax credit, FHA and GSE reform, expansion of the mortgage revenue bond program and enhancement of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and tax-exempt housing bond programs to maximize their effectiveness in addressing the nation’s continuing affordable housing needs. For more information, e-mail Michael Strauss at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8252. Fannie Mae Cited for Efforts to Fix Housing Finance ProblemsNAHB expressed support last week for steps recently announced by Fannie Mae to address severe problems in the nation's housing finance system. "Fannie Mae is demonstrating the leadership expected of a government-sponsored enterprise with the rollout of its Keys to Recovery Initiatives and commitment to raise additional capital to support those and other responses to mortgage market challenges," said NAHB President Sandy Dunn. The Keys to Recovery Initiatives are a series of new programs designed to increase liquidity and stability in the mortgage and housing markets. Fannie Mae's decision to use the temporary increase in conforming loan limits to purchase jumbo-conforming mortgages under the same pricing structure accorded portfolio purchases of regular conforming loans will help home buyers in high-priced markets. "The jumbo mortgage market is dysfunctional and in great need of active GSE involvement. Fannie Mae's portfolio purchases will help narrow spreads from the recent record highs, making home purchases more affordable in high-priced metro markets," said Jerry Howard, NAHB's executive vice president and CEO. NAHB also cited other elements of Fannie Mae's Housing Recovery Initiatives, particularly the refinancing program for borrowers whose mortgage amount exceeds the current value of their home and its plan to purchase more loans from state housing finance agencies. In addition, NAHB strongly endorsed Fannie Mae's commitment to raise additional capital, which was announced in a May 6 statement from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, Fannie Mae's regulator. "Obtaining fresh capital is a critical step in moving the Housing Recovery Initiatives and other mission efforts from the drawing board to the housing market. NAHB looks forward to seeing these programs translate into results for the nation's hard-pressed home buyers and renters," said Dunn. For more information, e-mail David Ledford at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8265.
Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2008 to 2009 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables. To learn more, visit www.HousingEconomics.com.
Free NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips to Navigate the Slowdown What was once expected to be a relatively mild housing slump following three years of record new home construction and sales has given way to a significant downturn. To help members navigate the uncharted waters of this slowdown, NAHB has compiled a comprehensive “Back to Basics” online toolkit — the best of the basics, the tried and true and the truly new. To access the toolkit, click here. To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar. For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242. Banks Tightening Lending at 'Historic Highs' in Fed SurveyIn its April survey of senior loan officers at 56 domestic banks and 21 U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks, the Federal Reserve on May 5 said that banks further tightened their lending practices over the last three months for a broad range of business and consumer loans “The net fractions of domestic banks reporting tighter lending standards were close to, or above, historical highs for nearly all loan categories in the survey,” the Fed said. About 55% of domestic banks — up from about 30% in a survey in January — reported tightening lending standards on commercial and industrial loans to large and middle-market firms. About 70% of the banks, on net, indicated that they had increased spreads of loan rates over their cost of funds, compared to 45% in January. About 80% of domestic banks and 55% of foreign banks reported tightening their lending standards on commercial real estate loans over the past three months. Those results were similar to responses in January. Majorities of domestic respondents reported that they had tightened their lending standards on prime, nontraditional and subprime residential mortgages over the past three months:
About 70% of domestic respondents — a somewhat higher fraction than in January — said that they had tightened their lending standards for approving applications for home equity lines of credit over the past three months. About 20% said that demand for these lines had weakened. About 50% of domestic respondents reported having tightened terms on existing home equity lines of credit over the past six months. Nearly all cited declines in the value of the collateral significantly below the appraised value for the purposes of these credit lines as reasons for tightening. As additional reasons for tightening on these lines of credit, large majorities cited increased defaults of material obligations under loan agreements, as well as significant changes in the financial circumstances of borrowers. Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2008 to 2009 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables. To learn more, visit www.HousingEconomics.com. Free NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips to Navigate the Slowdown What was once expected to be a relatively mild housing slump following three years of record new home construction and sales has given way to a significant downturn. To help members navigate the uncharted waters of this slowdown, NAHB has compiled a comprehensive “Back to Basics” online toolkit — the best of the basics, the tried and true and the truly new. To access the toolkit, click here. To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar. For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242. Useful Links to Monitor Economic and Housing TrendsThe following are links to useful information from government agencies and NAHB that will enable you to monitor the housing market. To access the latest information available, simply click the links.
Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros? Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2008 to 2009 Metro Forecast (free preview). Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables. To learn more, visit www.HousingEconomics.com.
Free NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips to Navigate the Slowdown What was once expected to be a relatively mild housing slump following three years of record new home construction and sales has given way to a significant downturn. To help members navigate the uncharted waters of this slowdown, NAHB has compiled a comprehensive “Back to Basics” online toolkit — the best of the basics, the tried and true and the truly new. To access the toolkit, click here. To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar. For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242. Builders' Tip: An Efficient, Less Frustrating Way to Paint Doors
Here is a simple way to take some of the frustration out of painting doors. As shown in the accompanying drawing:
— Charles P. McCausland, Hall, N.Y. Tips & Techniques provided by Fine Homebuilding.
To contact Fine Homebuilding, e-mail Christina Glennon.
Set Yourself Apart With CGB Designation Join the ranks of the nation’s top building industry professionals with the Certified Graduate Builder (CGB) designation. The “Builder Assessment Review” (BAR) is your first step towards obtaining the CGB. This comprehensive assessment measures your expertise in the four key areas of the building industry: building technology, business and finance, project management and sales and marketing. Your results will show the areas where your knowledge is strongest and weakest and will help determine the courses required for you to obtain your CGB. To learn where the next BAR will be held, visit NAHB’s education listings, or call the Professional Designation Help Line at 800-368-5242 x8154.
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.
Free NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips to Navigate the Slowdown What was once expected to be a relatively mild housing slump following three years of record new home construction and sales has given way to a significant downturn. To help members navigate the uncharted waters of this slowdown, NAHB has compiled a comprehensive “Back to Basics” online toolkit — the best of the basics, the tried and true and the truly new. To access the toolkit, click here. To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar. For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242. Central Vacuums Meeting Demand for Healthier Homes
A Consumer Electronic Association (CEA) survey of builders conducted last year found that 76% of the respondents offered central vacuum systems to their buyers.
Ron Jones, a former custom builder in Santa Fe, N.M., said his company offered the systems in all their homes. “Central vacuum systems ceased being an option for us years ago,” Jones said. “We wanted all of our customers to benefit from the improved indoor air quality (IAQ), superior cleaning and convenience of a properly designed and installed central vacuum system.” Central vacuum systems began to emerge as an indoor air quality enhancement in 2002 when a clinical study by the allergy and immunology division of the University of California, Davis School of Medicine confirmed a link between central vacuum systems and allergy relief. The study found that patients’ allergy symptoms improved 40% to 61% when they switched from using a portable vacuum to a built-in central vacuum system to clean their homes. “We had numerous anecdotal accounts that allergy patients felt better when they installed a central vacuum system,” said Larry Hartley, of Electrolux Central Vacuum Systems whose Beam vacuum systems were used by the allergy patients in the medical school study. “The study results confirmed that having a more powerful motor that can remove 100% of captured dust and allergens without stirring up dust in the house significantly improved the air quality of the home.” Healthy Home Important to Buyers According to a 2007 builder survey by Professional Builder magazine, having healthy indoor air ranked second only to energy efficiency in importance to buyers. Eighty-three percent of the builders rated indoor air quality as “somewhat or very important” to their customers, according to the survey. Following that study’s publication, several local home builders associations and national green building and healthy home demonstration programs — including the American Lung Association’s Health House program — added central vacuum systems to their list of recommended or required products to address indoor air quality. Manufacturers believe that the health benefits and new standards, combined with the affordability of central vacuum systems, ranging from $1,200 to $1,800 for a typical new home, will increase the popularity of the systems. “These products contribute to indoor air quality and are a great product to incorporate into a newly built home,” says Jill Notini, director of communications and marketing for the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. “Not only do central vacuums contribute to IAQ, they are powerful, convenient systems that new home owners will love.”
Information About Home Technology Available From HTA The Home Technology Alliance (HTA) is a partnership between NAHB and the Custom Electronic Design Installation Association (CEDIA) that was formed to position the housing industry to effectively meet the growing home buyer demand for home technology and provide maximum return on investment in the new home building and remodeling process. For more information, visit www.nahb.org/HTA.
‘Profit from Green Building’ Available at BuilderBooks.com “Profit from Building Green — Award-Winning Tips to Build Energy Efficient Homes,” available through BuilderBooks.com, showcases what energy conscious award-winning builders are doing, provides innovative energy-efficient features and covers successful techniques for building this niche market. To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.
‘Easy Living’ Home Wins Livable Communities AwardRecognizing the development, construction and marketing of livable homes and communities that improve the daily comfort, ease of use and safety for residents, NAHB and AARP honored five builders, remodelers and developers with the 2007 Livable Communities Awards at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando in February. Wendt Builders, of Snelville, Ga., and it's ‘Easy Living' Home was one of the winners Guidelines and applications for the 2008 Livable Communities Awards are available online. The application deadline is June 6.
Eight years ago Wendt Builders, of Snellville, Ga., got involved in a pilot program designed to promote accessibility and it has since received the first “Easy Living Home” designation in its state. Roy Wendt turned those early efforts into a passion, and a home built by Wendt in Olde Town Grayson, Ga. was recognized in a Dec. 11 ceremony in Washington, D.C. as one of five winners of the AARP-NAHB Livable Communities Award. For a home to be certified under the Easy Living Home program, it must include three simple design features:
Kitchen designs enhancements include deep, easy-to-use drawers that increase storage space and reduce the need for cabinet doors that are hard to reach. Track lighting under kitchen cabinets provides ample light for kitchen surface areas.
In the laundry room, the washer and dryer are situated on raised platforms so their front-loading doors are at chest height for easy loading and unloading without extensive bending.
Apply for 2008 Livable Community Awards AARP and NAHB are now accepting applications for the 2008 awards program. Applications are due by June 6. For more information about the Livable Communities Award, e-mail Blake Smith at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8583. Find Out What the 45+ Housing Market Wants “Right House, Right Place, Right Time: Community and Lifestyle Preferences of the 45+ Housing Market,” available through BuilderBooks.com, will help 50+ housing professionals determine the right design, home features and amenities to attract boomer home buyers in their market. Margaret Wylde guides readers through the latest survey results on this important consumer group and explains what their responses mean for today’s and tomorrow’s home building industry. To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665. FHA Commissioner Honored for Affordable Housing Efforts
Presented annually by NAHB and the Neighborhood Development Collaborative (NDC), the Corletta Award pays tribute to individuals who have shown extraordinary creativity and dedication to the cause of affordable housing. Montgomery was cited in particular for his efforts to keep Federal Housing Administration programs viable for the production and rehabilitation of rental apartments that low- and moderate-income households can afford. “Given the current difficulties in the mortgage markets, FHA programs are more important than ever, and Brian has played a critical role in ensuring that these programs support the creation of affordable housing for America’s working families,” said NAHB Vice President/Secretary Bob Nielsen, who presented the award to the commissioner during the association’s recent spring board of directors meeting in Washington, D.C. Nielsen said that Montgomery had listened to the concerns of NAHB and other industry groups when the Administration last year proposed increasing the mortgage insurance premiums on certain FHA affordable housing programs by as much as 16 basis points. After reviewing economic data and analysis from NAHB showing the negative impact of a premium hike on lower-income renters in those programs, Montgomery supported holding the line on premiums and in January HUD announced that it would not implement the increase. “Brian Montgomery’s support on this critical issue is right in line with the legacy of Bob Corletta, who believed that all citizens, whatever their financial circumstances, deserve a home that is affordable, safe and desirable,” said David P. Cole, chief operating officer of NDC. The Corletta Award is bestowed in honor of Robert J. Corletta, who before his death in 1998 was long-time executive director of multifamily operations at NAHB. Corletta was recognized by his peers as a visionary in the affordable housing industry, particularly for his efforts supporting congressional passage of the Community Reinvestment Act. Enacted in 1977, that landmark legislation requires banks and other lending institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, and it has enabled affordable housing to be created in many low- and moderate-income neighborhoods across the country. In 1978, Corletta co-founded NDC, a non-profit corporation whose mission is to help re-build America’s communities through the creation of affordable housing and comprehensive community development. Past recipients of the award include Ted Schlossman, current chair of NAHB Multifamily; New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine; Stillman D. Knight, former deputy assistant secretary for multifamily housing programs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; and former U.S. Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.). For more information, e-mail Ann Marie Moriarty at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8350. Remodeling Outlook Brighter for Some Than OthersThe ongoing housing slowdown is taking a toll on remodeling activity, but some parts of the multi-faceted industry are performing better than others and prospects overall should start to brighten next year, according to participants in a May 7 NAHB teleconference on the remodeling market outlook. Housing has been rapidly declining since the end of 2005 “with no letup,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders, “and patterns of that overall housing market are really important to what the remodeling sector will be doing.” The industry is not countercyclical, Seiders said, even though it is often perceived that way, and “spending generally moves in the same direction as new housing activity, with not as much volatility up and down and with a bit of a lag, but it is definitely affected by a housing cycle like this.” In constant 2000 dollars, total remodeling volume fell about 4% in 2007, he said, and a further 7% decline is expected this year. Improvements are feeling the brunt of the downturn, with the decline in additions and alterations registering a 5% decline last year and headed for an 11% slide in 2007. By comparison, spending on maintenance and repair was off by less than a scant 1% in 2007 and it is actually expected to increase this year, with further growth in 2009 that will help stabilize the overall remodeling market, he said. Improvements to owner-occupied housing, particularly big jobs, are the most cyclically sensitive component of remodeling, he said, “and are just about as cyclical as the new home market itself. There we do see for 2008 about a 13% decline,” followed by “essentially flatness” in 2009. However, “the longer-term trend is excellent. This is an episode.” Rental housing has experienced “a little bit of erosion” on the improvements side, Seiders said, but maintenance spending has shown growth, and the rental side of the remodeling industry has profited from a significant erosion of the U.S. homeownership rate from its all-time highs during the boom. Geography of Remodeling Kermit Baker, senior research fellow and director of the Remodeling Futures Project at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, noted that “in terms of the geography of remodeling, there is a lot of interest for obvious reasons.” Activity tends to be very local “with tremendous variations in broad numbers,” he said. “Some markets are doing very well and some are doing very poorly.” “There is no consistent publicly available data base to talk about remodeling activity at the local level,” Baker said, but statistics for owner-occupied house prices and existing home sales can serve as a fairly reliable “proxy” for home improvement expenditures. A large amount of remodeling comes from sellers preparing to put their homes on the market and from buyers of those homes customizing them after they have been purchased, Baker explained. And when home prices go down, as they have been recently in many markets, home owners have less equity to use to refinance remodeling expenditures. Also, in the current environment there is less incentive for home owners to undertake projects because they will receive a lower return on their investment, and they are waiting for prices to hit bottom. Baker said that the 10 metro areas among the top 50 expected to do the best this year are locations where home sales have declined modestly and house price declines have been lowest through the fourth quarter of 2007. Surprisingly, they are concentrated in the Midwest, he said, where local economies have displayed notable weakness but now appear to be stabilizing. Based on sales declines, remodeling leaders in that region include Columbus, Ohio; Cleveland; Indianapolis; and Milwaukee. Also on the list of metro areas expected to show the most stability in remodeling this year based on sales are Boston; Buffalo, N.Y.; New York City; and Oklahoma City. On the list of relatively strong metro areas judging from how well home prices have been holding up are Seattle, Portland, Ore.; Nashville; Charlotte, N.C.; and Virginia Beach, Va. The oil-based economies of Texas should give remodeling a fairly smooth ride this year in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, based on price, he said, and Austin, as well as Pittsburgh, score among the top 10 based on both home prices and sales. The markets most vulnerable to a remodeling downturn are concentrated in California and Florida, Baker said. “These are the markets that are very overbuilt from the new construction side, working over into the remodeling side. In the West, the least attractive remodeling markets appear to be San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego, in California; and Las Vegas and Phoenix. Weaker remodeling markets in Florida include Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Miami, he said, and sitting by itself is Detroit, whose economic base has generated severe job losses and made housing prices unsustainable. Remodeling Cost vs. Value Looking at how much home owners can expect to recoup their investments in remodeling projects in today’s market, Baker said that mid-range improvements and replacements generally have a better payback than upscale projects. “The percentage of cost recouped on remodeling projects has been declining in recent years,” he said. With some variation by market and project type, Remodeling magazine and the National Association of Realtors®’ Cost vs. Value studies showed that more than 80% of remodeling project costs was recovered on average in the 2003 to 2005 period, he said. That fell to 70% last year. Replacement projects, such as those for windows and siding, are holding up well in terms of recovery costs, he said, somewhat more so for mid-range over upscale jobs. “These are performing better than discretionary projects that don’t need to be done to retain the structural integrity of the home,” Baker said. Remodeling in Almost Every Neighborhood “Out here in the Southwest, we’re holding our own in remodeling,” said Lonny Rutherford, CGR, CAPS, chairman of NAHB Remodelers and president of Legacy Construction in Farmington, N.M. Outdoor buildings, decks and outdoor living spaces are especially hot items in his area, Rutherford said. And in Santa Fe, onerous development rules are encouraging more builders to turn to remodeling. New Mexico markets are seeing a great deal of additions and kitchen renovations and “everybody is busy,” he said. “Remodeling projects are almost in every neighborhood.” Nevertheless, the financing options for remodeling have started to tighten up, and he cited the case of one “gold-plated” customer who had to visit three different banks before he was able to obtain financing for his project. Nationwide, “some remodelers are feeling the crunch,” Rutherford said. “In talking with other remodelers around the nation, we hear that home owners are taking more time to sign a contract and starting to hold off on making that decision to see what the market is going to do, particularly in the Northeast.” Also, remodelers are noticing much less work in the pipeline compared to the boom times earlier in the decade, when it might have taken them one or two years to be able to start a particular project. For remodeling customers, this is a plus because they can now have projects completed much faster, he said. Overall, “high-end jobs are slowing down,” Rutherford said. “Remodelers are taking on smaller projects and some of these are not in their models because they were geared up to do the bigger jobs.” They are now making adjustments, and that process is “causing a bit of heartburn.” The market, however, is seeing strength, and growth, in calls for green remodeling and aging-in-place retrofits allowing residents to remain in their homes long after retirement, he reported. For more information, e-mail Kelly Mack at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8451. Increase Your Professional Credibility The Certified Graduate Remodeler (CGR) designation emphasizes business management skills as the key to a professional remodeling operation. Remodelers who earn the CGR become members of an exclusive national program and gain recognition as industry leaders. To learn more about the CGR designation, visit www.nahb.org/CGRinfo, or call The Professional Designation Help Line at 800-368-5242 x8154. 'How to Find a Professional Remodeler' Available at BuilderBooks.com "How to Find a Professional Remodeler," available at BuilderBooks.com, promotes the professionalism of your remodeling business by offering valuable advice to your customers on the process of selecting a remodeler. The brochure guides consumers from the dream to the reality of having their homes remodeled by skilled and trained professionals. Sections include what to look for in a professional remodeler and what questions to ask. To view or puchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665 to order.
Remodelers Report Slow But Steady First QuarterRemodelers’ perceptions of remodeling activity held steady during this year’s first quarter, according to the latest results for the NAHB Remodeling Market Index (RMI), which were released on May 7. The component of the index measuring remodelers’ views of current market conditions climbed to 41.8 for the first three months of this year, up from 40.9 in the final quarter of 2007, while future expectations remained unchanged at 37.9. The RMI is gauged on a scale of 0 to 100, where any number over 50 is an indicator of industry growth. The index has been running below that level since the final quarter of 2005. "The remodeling market continues to show weakness, following the downturn in the overall housing market," said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. "We expect there to be some further erosion in 2008, with a gradual recovery in 2009." Nationally, the RMI components for major additions and alterations during the first quarter increased to 44.15, from 42.28. Minor additions and alterations decreased to 41.57, from 41.76. Maintenance and repair jobs increased to 39.68, from 38.11. The responses of surveyed remodelers on the amount of work committed for the next three months decreased to 29.63, from 33.15, indicating a decline in the backlog of remodeling jobs. "While remodeling is down nationally, some markets continue to churn with activity," said NAHB Remodelers Chairman Lonny Rutherford, CGR, CAPS, a remodeler from Farmington, N. M. "Many remodelers are seeing smaller jobs and have a shorter backlog, but we expect activity to increase because necessary home repairs cannot be postponed for a long time." Regionally, current market expectations dropped in the first quarter in the Northeast to 36.4, from 38.6, and in the South to 42.2, from 45.0. Expectations rose in the Midwest, increasing to 44.1, from 41.1, and in the West, up slightly to 42.9, from 42.2. For more information about NAHB’s remodeling resources, click here.
Increase Your Professional Credibility The Certified Graduate Remodeler (CGR) designation emphasizes business management skills as the key to a professional remodeling operation. Remodelers who earn the CGR become members of an exclusive national program and gain recognition as industry leaders. To learn more about the CGR designation, visit www.nahb.org/CGRinfo, or call The Professional Designation Help Line at 800-368-5242 x8154.
'How to Find a Professional Remodeler' Available at BuilderBooks.com "How to Find a Professional Remodeler," available at BuilderBooks.com, promotes the professionalism of your remodeling business by offering valuable advice to your customers on the process of selecting a remodeler. The brochure guides consumers from the dream to the reality of having their homes remodeled by skilled and trained professionals. Sections include what to look for in a professional remodeler and what questions to ask. To view or puchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665 to order.
'Remodel Now' Material Touts Benefits of RemodelingArticles, press releases, advertising and other tools that local councils and home builders associations can adapt for their market to educate home owners about the benefits of remodeling are available as part of “National Home Remodeling Month” observations and the NAHB Remodelers' year-long "Remodel Now" campaign launched this month. The "Remodel Now" campaign materials include:
For more information, e-mail Kelly Mack at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8451; or visit www.nahb.org/remodelingmonth. Increase Your Professional Credibility The Certified Graduate Remodeler (CGR) designation emphasizes business management skills as the key to a professional remodeling operation. Remodelers who earn the CGR become members of an exclusive national program and gain recognition as industry leaders. To learn more about the CGR designation, visit www.nahb.org/CGRinfo, or call The Professional Designation Help Line at 800-368-5242 x8154. ‘Warranties for Builders and Remodelers’ Available at BuilderBooks.com “Warranties for Builders and Remodelers,” available through BuilderBooks.com, provides vital knowledge concerning the basic elements of a warranty. This second edition addresses the changes to state statues of repose applicable to construction and changes and additions to the mandatory notice provisions in states that have these laws. To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665. 'How to Find a Professional Remodeler' Available at BuilderBooks.com "How to Find a Professional Remodeler," available at BuilderBooks.com, promotes the professionalism of your remodeling business by offering valuable advice to your customers on the process of selecting a remodeler. The brochure guides consumers from the dream to the reality of having their homes remodeled by skilled and trained professionals. Sections include what to look for in a professional remodeler and what questions to ask. To view or puchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665 to order.
Systems Built Home, Church Makeovers Get Extreme
Building Systems Councils member Deltec Homes, Inc., a panel and component manufacturer based in Asheville, N.C., recently completed the makeover of a home and church destroyed by Hurricane Katrina for ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." The rebuilding project, which involved manufacturing and installing nearly 700 building system components, will air Sunday, May 18 as the show's two-hour season finale. Joe Schlenk, Deltec’s sales and marketing director, said the show’s producers specifically contacted Deltec for the project — rebuilding a 4,000-square-foot home of the Usea family and the 3,000-square-foot Noah's Ark Missionary Baptist Church in Westwego, La. just outside of New Orleans ― because the company boasts that it never lost a home to a hurricane or high winds. He said eight company-built homes were in the path of the hurricane when it cut its devastating path through Louisiana, Mississippi and other parts of the South in 2005. The hurricane caused some minor cosmetic damage to the Deltec homes, but no structural damage, he said. Deltec engineers its homes and panels specifically for the jurisdictions where they will be built, Schlenk said. For example, the homes the company builds for the New Orleans area are engineered to withstand high winds.
The home and church rebuilt during the “Extreme Makeover” episode use “radial engineering” to disperse energy and wind pressure throughout the structures to make them highly resistant to damage by high winds, Schlenk said. “There is a lot of technology in the structures,” he said, while noting that this type of engineering and construction greatly reduces the potential for serious damage in coastal environments. Deltec manufactured 108 wall panels, 300 floor trusses and 276 roof trusses for the “Extreme Makeover” rebuilding effort. It took the company 2,640 man-hours to build the components. Four hundred volunteers helped install them. “Extreme Makeover” budgets 106 man-hours each episode to rebuild a home. “Without systems building, you couldn’t undertake a project of this magnitude,” Schlenk said of the Westwego project. About 300 Deltec employees and friends will gather at the Ashville factory on Sunday to watch the season finale.
Note From Alaska: Spring Board Energized NewcomerWhen I arrived in Washington, D.C. for NAHB’s spring board of directors meeting from my hometown of Fairbanks, I thought my NAHB experience would be all about visiting our Alaska legislators on Capitol Hill. Being new to the NAHB experience, however, I quickly realized first-hand that being part of the NAHB “family” meant more than being given a ribbon at the welcome booth. At the morning hospitality room for the Women’s Council, for example, I met council members who told me that newcomers should be involved. So I took their advice and soon had a second ribbon attached to my badge. From that point on I was introduced as “the newest member of the Women’s Council" to every council member I met. Needless to say, I was pumped and ready for more. Everywhere I looked during the board meeting, I saw plenty of members wearing multimple ribbons. Just how long have they been part of the NAHB family, I wondered, and did they really take part in so many councils and donate countless hours to make the home building industry better? Yes, in fact they were that involved. And their communities benefited as well. As a new director with the Interior Alaska Building Association, I thought, what more should I do at the national level in order to bring home valuable resources home to my fellow member? My natural instincts guided me. I took photos at every meeting I attended and I asked plenty of questions. I asked members and staff about anything and everything. I talked to long-term members and realized how their businesses and HBAs benefited from their NAHB “family” trainings and contacts. Before long, I was sporting a third ribbon, for the Sales and Marketing Council, and signed up for training in October. After 30 years in my career and less than a week in Washington, D.C., I realized I had plenty of exciting resources available through NAHB. With so many choices, I gravitated to the Women’s Council-sponsored Building Hope scholarship program. The program was at the heart of what I liked ― helping young people become part of a growing community. Then I heard NAHB President Sandy Dunn’s call for support through the Century Club. Soon after, I was wearing a Century Club pin. All in all, the week in the nation’s capital was pretty exciting for this newcomer from Alaska. I became committed to a mission that spoke to me in large part because so many members of the NAHB family embraced me and my willingness to learn from them. Karen Isreal Garrity is the community relations and marketing director of the Fairbanks Title Agency in Fairbanks, Alaska. She is also a new director of the Interior Alaska Building Association. For more information, e-mail Garrity, or call her at 907-456-6626. University of Housing Seeks Feedback on EducationThe NAHB University of Housing is seeking feedback from participants in NAHB courses, designations and conferences about how the education opportunities may have helped increase their profits, expand their networking or enhance their careers. Among the feedback sought:
For more information, e-mail Elizabeth Moore at NAHB. Education Calendar
Learn More About Upcoming Conferences and Designations Interested in attending a University of Housing conference or learning more about NAHB designation programs? Visit www.nahb.org/notifyme, and sign up to receive more information.
Free NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips to Navigate the Slowdown What was once expected to be a relatively mild housing slump following three years of record new home construction and sales has given way to a significant downturn. To help members navigate the uncharted waters of this slowdown, NAHB has compiled a comprehensive “Back to Basics” online toolkit — the best of the basics, the tried and true and the truly new. To access the toolkit, click here. To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar. For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242. Developers Honored for Building With TreesTwo builder-developers were honored on May 11 with the 2008 Building With Trees Awards of Excellence at the NAHB National Green Building Conference in New Orleans. Northland Residential Corporation of Burlington, Mass. and Parker Development Company of El Dorado Hills, Calif. are this year’s recipients of the awards, which are a joint project of NAHB and the National Arbor Day Foundation. Building With Trees honors builders and developers who demonstrate exemplary conservation practices on their projects, specifically by protecting and saving existing trees. “Tree conservation is something that our industry takes very seriously,” said NAHB President Sandy Dunn. “The winning projects of these two companies are excellent examples of environmental stewardship, an important component of our association’s green initiatives — especially the NAHB National Green Building Program.” A jury of developers and urban forestry professionals selected the winners based on the creativity of their projects and their attention to detail. The winners took an inventory of the trees to be protected during planning, design and construction; planted additional trees and provided for long-term tree care; demonsted a commitment to tree protection by including a certified tree-care professional on the development team; and adhered to tree protection goals throughout the construction process. The winning projects are:
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