Monday Morning Briefing Letter - 01/08/2007 (Plain Text Version)

By David Pressly, NAHB President and
Jerry Howard, NAHB Executive VP and CEO

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NAHB is hitting the ground running

as a new Congress gets down to business and a new year of lawmaking begins on Capitol Hill.

In the coming weeks, we will visit each and every federal Senator and Representative to present them with a special "Welcome to Congress" kit detailing the importance of the housing industry in today's economy and outlining NAHB's positions on our key issues. With Democrats now in charge of both houses of Congress for the first time in 12 years (albeit by the smallest of margins in the Senate), notable priorities among the new committee chairmen include the expansion of affordable housing, continuing efforts to reform oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, comprehensive immigration reform, and many others. NAHB is well positioned to advocate builders' positions and communicate your concerns directly to lawmakers on these and other subjects across the board. For quick reference, here are a few of the key leaders and committee chairs for the 110th Congress:

House Leadership                             Senate Leadership
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)                Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)
Speaker                                                Majority Leader/Conference Chairman

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD)                  Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Majority Leader                                   Assistant Majority Leader/Majority Whip

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)              Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Minority Leader                                   Minority Leader

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO)                      Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS)
Minority Whip                                       Minority Whip

Key Committee                                   Chairman
House Financial Services                 Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

Senate Banking, Housing &             Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Urban Affairs

House Judiciary                                  Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)

Senate Judiciary                                 Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

House Resources                             Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV)

House Transportation &                   Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN)
Infrastructure

Senate Environment &                      Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Public Works

House Ways & Means                      Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)

Senate Finance                                  Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

NAHB Member Benefit: NAHB is your voice on Capitol Hill when important legislation is being debated that will affect your business. We are officially a nonpartisan association that supports housing-friendly candidates on both sides of the aisle. Accordingly, we are ready to work with the new Congress to advance housing opportunity and builder issues going forward, and are well positioned to speak as the prime advocate of housing on behalf of our 235,000 members nationwide. For more information, see our post-election wrap-up in NBN Online, or contact Jim Tobin, x8258.

What's in store for housing and the economy in 2007

was the subject of a well-attended NAHB media teleconference on Dec. 21. Our own chief economist, David Seiders, joined with his counterparts at the National Association of Realtors and Fannie Mae to explain why the ongoing housing correction, substantial as it is, is not expected to bring the economy into recession in 2007. In fact, NAHB projections show improving GDP growth in 2007 as the drag from housing eases off. Overall employment growth has been reasonably well maintained, and the nation's unemployment rate has remained quite low (4.5% in November). Meanwhile, home buyer demand appears to be stabilizing, which is the essential first step in arresting the housing downslide that began in the second half of 2005. Such news attracted substantial press coverage, with 33 reporters dialing into the teleconference. Representatives of The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, LA Times, Marketwatch, National Journal, Chicago Tribune and several other notable media outlets were included in this group. For more on the event, contact Paul Lopez (x8409), or for the latest Seiders analysis, see his Eye on the Economy report online.

NAHB Member Benefit: NAHB's economic teleconferences, surveys and analyses help our members achieve a better understanding of current market trends and where they are headed, while our media outreach in this regard helps to firmly establish NAHB as the credible source of information on the housing industry nationwide. This credibility with the media ensures that accurate data on the housing market is transmitted to potential home buyers and the public at large, thereby discounting sensationalized accounts of market conditions that may affect your client's decision to purchase a new home. [return to top]

Encouraging data on builder confidence, permits and sales...

NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, released Dec. 18:
Heading into the holidays, builders of new single-family homes continue to believe that the worst of the downswing in home buying is behind them, according to the latest HMI results gauging builder confidence for the month of December. The HMI declined a single point to 32 that month but remained above the recent low of 30 in September, and showed three consecutive months of improving builder expectations for sales in the next six months. Read the HMI tables and press release online, or contact Gopal Ahluwalia at x8480.

November housing starts, released Dec. 19:
Unseasonably warm November weather helped boost total housing starts 6.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.59 million units that month, according to figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department. But builders reduced the pace of building permit activity another 3% in November to 1.51 million units, a level that was 31.3% below one year ago. Read the official government press release or NAHB's release online.

November new-home sales, released Dec. 27:
The U.S. Commerce Department reported that sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 3.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.05 million units in November. Sales were also revised upward for the three previous months. Read the official government press release or NAHB's take online.

NAHB Member Benefit: NAHB conducts regular and extensive media outreach when government housing figures are released each month to educate reporters about the historical context in which numbers should be viewed, discourage sensationalized accounts and ensure that home builders' views are represented. NAHB also assists our members in dealing with media inquiries regarding the latest government and NAHB data. [return to top] [return to top]

Updated information on protecting exterior walls from moisture

is now available via a newly revised Installer's Guide. This valuable resource is provided to you free of charge as an NAHB member. It's the product of a joint effort by NAHB's Building Product Issues Committee and the NAHB Research Center, and it's available in both English and Spanish. The pamphlet applies to several types of siding and veneer applications, including brick, manufactured stone, stucco, thin brick and EIF Systems over wood sheathing or paper-backed products. Download your free copy of Moisture Protection of Exterior Walls - An Installer's Guide from our Web site, or if you need bulk copies sent to you, contact Cynthia Day at x8291. [return to top]

Online registration for IBS has been extended to Jan. 25!

If you register online by this date, you'll be able to walk up to the Advance Registration Counter at the Orange County Convention Center to pick up your badge. Avoid the need to register on-site! After all, your time is valuable and there's so much to see at the International Builders' Show – why risk being delayed? Do yourself a favor: Avoid the big lines in February by going online today!

Get more information about the biggest event of the year for home builders and their affiliates in a special pre-IBS edition of NBN Online, which will published on the evening of Jan.8. [return to top]