1978 First issue of BUILDER is published in May; total housing starts hit a record 2 million; microwaves gather steam as standard item; major brands include Caloric, GE, Jenn-Air, Litton, MagicChef, Micro-Tronics, Modern Maid, Sears, Tappan, and Whirlpool; builders report putting microwaves in almost 10 percent of all new single-family homes.
1979 Hot tubs grow in popularity among affluent home buyers--sales grew from 5,000 in 1976 to more than 38,000 in the late '70s; prime rate increases 60 percent from Aug. 1 to Oct. 27, Federal Reserve moves to curtail double-digit inflation by imposing restrictive monetary policy--interest rates soar and economy stalls; magazine redesigns.
1980 First "new products" issue is published in February, features more than 150 products in 13 categories; median price of a new single-family home reaches a record high of $68,800; industry experts fear housing will be less of a priority under new Reagan administration but say friendlier business climate will lead to interest rate reductions.
1981 First Builder's Choice Design Awards in October; first issue of BUILDER under Hanley-Wood published in November; mortgage rate hits 18 percent, prime rate close to 21 percent; big builders flex muscles as U.S. Home, Ryan Homes, Ryland Group, and Pulte Home Corp. close more than 32,000 units combined--but it's still only 3 percent of starts that year.
1982 BUILDER publishes editorial cartoons in January depicting how difficult it is for new-home buyers to obtain mortgages; industry attempts to market zero-interest mortgages fail because home buyers can't afford one-third down payment or seven-year payout.
1983 About one-third of first-time home buyers in major metro areas purchase condominiums; magazine rolls out new logo in May; The New American Home in December issue focuses on young, married couples with one or more children, would sell for $80,000 in most markets--house is 1,500 square feet with three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a living room, dining room, and two-car garage.
1984 First BUILDER 100 published in May, U.S. Home top builder with 14,028 units and $1.15 billion in revenue, company keys in on first-time home buyers and retirement communities; May issue also features roundtable on housing issues with President Reagan, (pictured below with Mike Wood, CEO, Hanley-Wood, LLC, publisher of BUILDER.)
1985 Home builders feel the sting of the savings and loan scandal as William Levitt's Villa Poinciana in Florida barely survives the crash of Baltimore's Old Court Savings and Loan Association, one of the main backers of the affordable housing project; S&L failure in Maryland costs state deposit insurance fund and Maryland taxpayers $185 million; Ohio S&L also shut down.
1986 Two-income households become big force as 78 percent of married home buyers had both spouses working; magazine does major features on impact fees, land scarcity, and, in November, runs a special NAHB pull-out section on the Tax Reform Act of 1986.
1987 Coverage of October stock market crash features responses from builders, many of whom say the stock market roller coaster underscores the stability of an investment in a home; Texas S&Ls collapse, throw Texas economy into major recession; first software directory published in November, lists 38 vendors, including still familiar names such as Autodesk, IBM, and Timberline.
1988 Two reports, "The State of the Nation's Housing," by William C. Apgar and H. James Brown of Harvard University, and "A Decent Place to Live," by a 26-member National Housing Task Force, describe the nation's affordable housing crisis; FDIC announces $1 billion bailout of Texas-based First Republic Bank; U.S. League of Savings Institutions reports that 20 of the nation's 3,118 S&Ls accounted for $3 billion of the industry's $3.8 billion first-quarter loss.
1989 Research by LSI, based in Crofton, Md., reports that new household formations, which dropped to 1.44 million in the 1980s, will average only 1.21 million in the 1990s--still, markets such as the western United States will attract new families; HUD Reform Act of 1989 passes; Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 passes; magazine redesigns in July.
1990 BUILDER publishes list of builder concerns, top five in order are: wetlands, impact fees, development financing, worker's compensation, and affordable housing; credit crunch hits hard in Northeast and Oil Patch states, less so in Pacific Northwest, Nevada, and California; National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 passes, providing $9.5 billion for affordable housing, including 95,046 new units for the poor, elderly, and dispossessed.
1991 December issue features a petition to the president and Congress from NAHB President Mark Ellis Tipton, who reports that housing industry lost 664,000 jobs and sustained a 15 percent unemployment rate during '89-'91 recession; industry economists say long term, builders can look forward to lower oil prices and interest rates and a growing stock market following the Gulf War.
1992 Lumber prices hit all-time high, from December 1991 to March 1992 lumber prices climb 38 percent, builders concerned price hikes will hurt economic recovery; America's Best Builder Awards debut in January.
1993 Top builder concerns are worker's compensation, wetlands, storm water management/permits, impact fees, and OSHA inspections; major liability insurance carriers leave California; NAHB President J. Roger Glunt writes that first year of the Clinton administration was a positive year for housing; The New American Home is 3,024 square feet, sells for $360,000 and is built for a middle-class family with two children and a live-in grandparent.
1994 Hanley-Wood moves to new One Thomas Circle location in Washington; ICR survey of home buyers in their 20s, 30s, and 40s reports that safe neighborhoods and competitive pricing are the top two concerns of all three groups--the vast majority say $2,000 per month is about the top they can pay for mortgage, taxes, and insurance.
1995 Centex signs deal with Charles Church Group to invest $3 million in cash to build in England; NAHB President Jim Irvine supports Speaker Newt Gingrich's "Contract With America," anticipating that builders can look forward to regulatory relief on endangered species, wetlands, and private property rights.
1996 Launch of BUILDEROnline in January and full redesign of magazine, including a new CyberBuilder section that looks at trends in hardware, software, and online services; HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros acknowledges that unnecessary regulations raised home prices 25 percent to 35 percent over the past decade and pledges to remove barriers at federal level.
1997 January cover story poses the question: Is the American Dream dead?, explores issue of homeownership as a solid investment; BIG BUILDER, a supplement for the biggest 1,000 builders, debuts in January; BUILDER spins off residential architect, a magazine for new-home designers.
1998 Work at home is the theme of The New American Home; sprawl cover story in July poses the question: Will political backlash stunt your company's growth?; Maryland's smart-growth law cuts state funding for roads, business and economic programs, housing programs, and state construction development outside special zones that meet state-set minimum densities.
1999 Special millennium coverage in January looks back at industry movers and shakers; top five are FDR, Frank Lloyd Wright, Henry Ford, Jesse Clyde Nichols, and William Levitt; United States reported 93,000 housing starts in 1933 during height of Great Depression, finishes 20th century at 1.7 million for 1999.
2000 January redesign issue lists major megatrends of the 1990s such as: huge surge in baby boomers buying houses, design centers flourish, and active adult communities grow in popularity; market share of BUILDER 100 jumps to 24 percent, 289,492 closings; ihousing magazine debuts in June.
2001 BuildNet files for Chapter 11 in August; even with the general downturn following the Sept. 11 attacks, housing starts perform ahead of expectations in September, increasing 4.4 percent.
2002 BUILDER 100 feature in May focuses on how mid-sized builders are having a tougher time maximizing profits; voters in Virginia and Washington state vote down major transportation projects supported by builders; housing ends 2002 with the fastest pace since the 1980s at 1.835 million starts--most economists point to housing as economic bright spot.
2003 IBS show in January breaks all-time attendance record, attracting more than 92,000 attendees; The New American Home celebrates its 20th anniversary with three luxury townhomes instead of one large home, focus is on visitability, or building homes that meet all lifestyle stages--square footage on the homes is 2,699, 2,950 and 3,221, with prices ranging from $825,000 to $975,000