Credit availability for acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) loans remains a critical problem for the housing industry and shows little signs of easing, according to NAHB’s national survey of home builders and developers for last year’s fourth quarter.

The only good news from the survey is that the real estate credit crunch appears to be in the process of bottoming out, with roughly more than half of those polled reporting that credit conditions in the fourth quarter were about the same as in third quarter.

Unfortunately, the number of survey respondents reporting that they have access to credit has hit alarmingly low levels, with conditions steadily worsening from the final quarter of 2007 through the middle of last year.

“Looking ahead, the housing industry today is in a questionable position to meet the demand for housing that is expected to steadily grow as the economy improves,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen. "Without access to credit, the hands of builders are tied, and this raises sobering implications for the housing recovery that is still trying to gather the momentum it needs.”

With housing market conditions just about back to normal in many parts of the country, “it is disturbing that very few builders are reporting that loan availability has actually improved,” Nielsen said. Read More

Manufacturer: PrecisionCraft Log & Timber Homes

Builder: Atlanta Signature Homes – Atlanta

Nestled along a lake outside of Atlanta is an award-winning log home with the rustic flair and style of life in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York.

To make the home built for the McCarthy family a little more regionally confusing — but no less spectacular — it is a custom version of the Rimrock, a Western-style home manufactured by PrecisionCraft Log & Timber Homes. To add the Adirondack touches the McCarthys sought for their home, they worked directly with Medina, Idaho-based Mountain Architects, to modify the original plan into a handcrafted post-and- beam design. ... Read More

NAHB members with active construction sites are being sought to assist in data collection efforts on the turbidity — or cloudiness — of storm water discharges from construction sites.

The field data will help NAHB assess whether a numeric turbidity limit expected to be proposed shortly by the Environmental Protection Agency and finalized in June can be consistently achieved by builders and developers using passive control systems.

Under effluent limitation guidelines previously proposed by the EPA, storm water running off construction sites disturbing 10 or more acres would have been limited to 280 NTUs (Nephelometric Turbidity Units). As a result of an ongoing lawsuit by NAHB and a petition from the Small Business Administration, the EPA was forced to revise the limit.... Read More

While consumers have emerged from the recession with a more cautious attitude to spending, research from NAHB and Better Homes and Gardens suggests that the conditions behind the moribund housing market of the past couple of years are beginning to thaw.

“Consumers are starting to give themselves permission to dream about a new home again, and for the first time in several years, actually are considering houses that are slightly larger than their existing homes,” said Jill Waage, executive director of home content for Better Homes and Gardens.

Even so, in both the outlook for this year and four years down the road, Rose Quint, NAHB’s assistant vice president for survey research, said that smaller homes with lower prices and more green features will be the predominant force in the marketplace.

As it did last year and the year before, the survey research on consumer preferences, which is presented annually at the NAHB International Builders’ Show, suggests that the severity of the recession has left an indelible mark on prospective home buyers, who have shifted their perspective on the housing they want and need.

NAHB findings from a survey of builders in December, Quint said, showed that 52% expect to build smaller homes this year, and 41% expect no change — the continuation of a period in which the industry has been downsizing its product.... Read More