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NCCER launches Cornerstone of Craftsmanship campaign
If there ever was a time when affirmations were needed by those in the homebuilding business, this is probably it. Which is why there’s a propitious tone to the National Center for Construction Education and Research’s newly announced marketing campaign to “revive the meaning and importance of craftsmanship in the construction industry.”
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Temporary shutdown, layoffs at Cemex plant in California
The Portland Cement Association forecasts a “significantly weak” market for cement over the next two years, in part because public construction, which accounts for about half the cement used nationwide, has slowed along with the rest of the economy.
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Curious about my window seat?
My colleague Chuck Miller said that if you're going to build a window seat, make it big enough to sleep in.
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A mandate for Shaun Donovan: Sit at the main table
With housing issues so much on everyone’s mind, the housing secretary nominee, Shaun Donovan, became a person of especially intense interest during his confirmation hearing this week before members of the Senate banking committee. The good news is that the attention was positive.
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Beazer says orders continue to plunge
In line with the past several months of housing-market misery, closings and orders for Beazer Homes USA continued their decline during the company’s first quarter, which ended December 31.
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Is there hope for Hope for Homeowners?
4 commentsDemocrats who control Congress and the Obama transition team both seem to understand that the Hope for Homeowners program has serious flaws. Now what?
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Tarragon files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Residential developer and multifamily investor Tarragon Corporation announced that it and some of its subsidiaries have filed a petition to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code.
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Department of Housing and Mea culpa, Revisited
A profile published Monday by The Wall Street Journal offers a more detailed look at former National Association of Realtors chief economist David Lereah’s post-NAR perspective and his attempts to rebuild his reputation and revive his career.
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Lennar refutes scurrilous allegations
Homebuilder Lennar Corporation on Monday issued a statement denying allegations that its chief operating officer had received a mortgage on his home from the company and saying the company had never treated its joint ventures like a Ponzi scheme.
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Department of Housing and Mea culpa
If you’re loud, obnoxious, and wrong about which team will win the Super Bowl, you lose your wager and look like a chump for a day or so. But if you boldly predicted the housing market wouldn’t take a dive – in the face of mounting evidence that serious trouble was brewing – you have a different sort of ignominy to deal with.
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When opportunity turned to misfortune for Hispanic borrowers
3 commentsAll too often, lending practices that accompanied well-intentioned initiatives to encourage homeownership among Hispanics erred toward the expedient rather than the prudent.
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What's my house worth?
2 commentsLast week I read in the New York Times that nearly one in six homes is “worth less than the mortgage owed on it.” In this context, I’m sure that “worth” means...
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Is the U.S. ready for the passive house?
12 commentsA front-page article in The New York Times recently introduced the German Passivhaus concept to the American public. The article, “No Furnaces But Heat Aplenty in Passive Houses,” described the movement to build houses that keep occupants warm and safe even without heating systems. The Passivhaus movement got its start in Germany, but there are now at least 15,000 homes built to this extraordinarily tight standard throughout Europe, mostly in German-speaking and Scandinavian countries.
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Hallelujah! Foreclosures prompt banks, NAHB to consider cramdowns
Citigroup, with the backing of the National Association of Home Builders, has struck a deal with Democratic leaders in the Senate to endorse legislation that would allow judges to set new repayment terms for mortgage holders who wind up in bankruptcy court.
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Pulte pulls out of Long Island
Pulte Homes, which had entered the Long Island, New York, housing market almost seven years ago, recently sold all six of the communities it owned there to a local developer.
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Will homes ever be smart?
Cisco Systems, the technology company best known for computer routers, switches, and other network hardware, launched their “entertainment operating system” in prototype form this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
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The importance of being right at the right time
When is being right the same as being wrong? When you’re an economist predicting correctly but too early – and in the face of reasoned opposition – that something is seriously out of whack.
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NAR: Pending home sales drop in November
Job losses and other weaknesses throughout the economy finally dented the National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index, which had been relatively stable during most of 2008 but declined 4%, to 82.3, in November from 85.7 in October.
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Florida homebuilder wins tickets to inauguration
The Obama team has been soliciting donations to help pay for the inauguration. One of the incentives to donate is the chance to win tickets to the welcoming ceremony, the swearing-in, the parade, and one of the inaugural balls.
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How to Paint Fiber-Cement Siding
Painter Jim Lacey shares some tips for caulking and painting fiber-cement siding. read more
