EDITOR'S NOTE

  • Wake-Up Call

    AS YOU'VE PROBABLY READ OR HEARD BY NOW, IMMIGRANT and minority buyers are the fastest-growing segment of the new-home market. They account for roughly one-quarter of U.S. households today and will account for roughly one-third by the year 2020. In fact, two-thirds of all the household growth in...

     

HOUSE BLEND

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    Call and Answer

    Residential construction could be curtailed if police, fire, and EMS response times and staff levels fail to meet targets between now and the end of 2006.

     
  • That's Entertaining

    TREND WATCHERS TELL US THAT HOMEOWNERS are entertaining more. It's only logical then that they are looking for homes that make it easier to have those events. Realizing the relationship between good design and efficient entertaining, plumbing giant Kohler built a demonstration home to show what the...

     
  • NIMBY Twist

    More than a dozen residents of Coconut Grove, Fla., frustrated by the trend of replacing tear-downs with monster homes, have joined together to form NAMBIES United, LLC, an acronym for Neighbors Against McMansions: Big Invasive Eyesores. The group of 16 pooled resources to buy a local home that it...

     
  • Paging Prof. Pulte

    Pulte Homes now has its own professorship, courtesy of a $1.5 million gift to the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The pledge is the largest gift ever given to the college and will fund the endowed pro fessorship in the college's...

     
  • Buying Barriers

    The 47 percent home-ownership rate among Hispanics considerably lags the national average of 68 percent, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute says that is due to obstacles that keep Hispanics out of the housing market—such as high prices, low incomes, and the complexity of the home...

     
  • Higher and Higher

    Existing-home prices increased 9.36 percent from the second quarter of 2003 through the second quarter of 2004, according to the quarterly House Price Index, published by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). That gain, says Patrick Lawler, OFHEO's chief economist, is the...

     
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    Desert Difficulties

    On Oct. 2, Pulte Homes made waves when it reduced its prices across Las Vegas by about $70,000 per home.

     

INSIDE STORY

  • Luxury Boom

    WHILE THE NATIONAL DISCUSSION on the affordable housing crisis continues, there appears to be no shortage of luxury housing being sold. Reports from luxury new-home builders WCI Communities and Toll Brothers both indicate record-setting sales in high-end products. In August, WCI sold out the first...

     
  • Sprawl Syndrome

    A new study reports that people who live in areas with high levels of suburban sprawl, such as Atlanta and Detroit, are more likely to have chronic health problems—high blood pressure, arthritis, and headaches, for example—than people who live in densely populated areas, including New York City...

     

NATIONAL BEAT

  • House Policy

    WHEN THE UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION is just a memory and the 109th Congress has settled into place, making housing a national priority should be the first order of business for our nation's elected officials.

     

OTHER ARTICLES

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    Power Brokers

    As far as influence goes, these 50 people certainly have proven adept at making things -- big things -- happen in home building.

     
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    Time to Re-Act!

    act! 2005 offers contact management, incidence tracking, document management, and sales/warranty automation in an inexpensive, customizable, and easy-to-learn package.

     
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    Options Vision

    AS A SELF-PROCLAIMED “PROPELLER-HEAD,” Jonathan Smoke, Chief Information Officer of Beazer Homes, has spent the past few years immersed in new technology initiatives.

     
  • Builder Tech Briefs: December 2004

    - Avad now offers a special program that pairs home builders with home technology integrators. - Liquid Breaker of Carlsbad, Calif. develops new hub for in-house water sensors. - Front15 Secure Technologies offers an online options selection system.

     
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    Master Upgrade

    Intuit has managed to introduce some useful new user-requested features to Master Builder 10 without taking existing users out of their comfort zones.

     
  • Note From The NAHB

    “I am confident that our members are committed to ensuring proper sales practices in their businesses. To do this they must stay current on all aspects of the laws relating to home sales and must comply with those laws. Through our University of Housing, the NAHB offers various courses that help...

     
  • Barriers To Entry

    Think that bias doesn't occur in any of your company's sales centers? Builders who say

     
  • Priced to Move

    WHY IT WORKED: Clublands Antioch is one of the only mid-priced clubhouse communities in Lake County, one of Chicago's northern suburbs. Rolling topography and numerous water features are some of the highlights of this 450-acre site.

     
  • Triple Treat

    WHY IT WORKED: The Lanes is the first of three neighborhoods available at Tapestry, an innovative mini–master planned community that features a wide variety of floor plans and plenty of amenities the whole family can enjoy.

     
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    Seaside Charm

    WHY IT WORKED: It's hard to go wrong with a community that's just one-eighth of a mile from the beach and within walking distance of a light-rail system. Add great architecture and a variety of floor plans and finishes and you've got a winner.

     
  • Seeing Green

    The NAHB has created Green Home Building Guidelines to move environmentally friendly home building concepts further into the mainstream home building marketplace.

     
  • Just Speculating

    HOUSE PRICES SURGED IN 2004 AS FALLING mortgage rates and rising employment and household income energized home buyer demand. Several major Wall Street media outlets (including Fortune and Barron's) argue that speculators piled onto the process, bidding up prices with the intention of “flipping”...

     
  • NAHB Briefs: December 2004

    - Housing officials from the United States and Mexico endorse a landmark agreement to increase cross-border housing opportunities. - The cost of building materials is expected to go down in 2005, according to analysts. - New NAHB Web-based publication provides expert, in-depth analysis of...

     
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    Products Parade

    NAVIGATING YOUR WAY THROUGH the sea of new products at the International Builders' Show (IBS) is like looking for a black cat in a dark room: You may find something interesting but only if you stop at every booth. This, we know, is next to impossible—and unnecessary. Instead, let us do the job for...

     
  • Housing Hoaxes

    Mortgage fraud takes one of two forms: fraud for property, committed by buyers, and fraud for profit, which is usually committed by such industry insiders as appraisers, mortgage brokers, and loan originators.

     
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    Three's a Charm

    In testimony to the depth of their creativity, and the limitless possibilities in residential design today, each architect designed a completely different home in a different architectural style, with a novel floor plan and innumerable touches worthy of imitation.

     
  • Raising the Bar

    New home buyers are more satisfied than ever with their builders, even as the number of units built and the average price of a house increases

     
  • Bipartisan Approach

    A BIPARTISAN GROUP OF FOUR LEADING HOUSING authorities recently published a housing policy treatise that calls for the political parties to put partisan politics aside to solve the nation's affordable housing crisis.

     
  • Buddy System

    One San Francisco–based real estate agent says 33 percent of buyers snapping up $3 million-plus homes still put their children in the same bedroom. The parents say it's to keep from spoiling their kids and to help them learn to share. This is despite 37 percent of new homes having four or more...

     
  • Recycling Aid

    ONE OF THE BIGGEST OBSTACLES to jobsite recycling has been finding the organizations that accept drywall, carpet, asphalt roof shingles, appliances, and other demolition byproducts. Now, by logging on to the Construction Waste Management Database Web site (www.wbdg.org/ccbref/cwm.php) you get a...

     
  • Urban Appeal

    Engle Homes has acquired Phoenix-based Artisan Homes, which specialized in high-density urban infill construction. Eric Brown, founder of Artisan, will continue on as regional manager for Engle's Artisan Homes Collection and will develop new infill projects for the company. “Now, I have capital and...

     
  • NOR Veto

    A notice and opportunity to repair (NOR) bill that passed the House and Senate in Missouri was successfully vetoed this year by Gov. Bob Holden. Gov. Holden's veto was upheld when an override attempt in mid-September fell short by two votes in the state Senate, effectively killing the bill for the...