Researchers from 15 U.S. universities used computer modeling to estimate the total energy use for homes built using wood, steel, and concrete.
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The HBA of Greater St. Louis last fall showcased a revitalized Gaslight Square district during Citirama, a two-week event that displayed new single-family homes, condominiums, and townhouses. Prices for new homes range from $175,000 to $400,000. Seventy units will be built over the next year...
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Mayberry Homes of DeWitt, Mich., raised more than $573,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital by selling $100 raffle tickets for a 2,500-square-foot house, built with donated materials and labor from employees, trade contractors, and suppliers. The fundraiser was a first for the state and...
Voters turned back a measure that would have derailed the Notice and Opportunity to Repair (NOR) law that went into effect state-wide in April 2003
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Fannie Mae's Smart Commute Initiative to help home buyers live near public transportation has been expanded to include homeowners who are refinancing their mortgages. The program adds up to $250 to a buyer's monthly qualifying income and gives more flexible down-payment requirements. To be eligible...
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THE COMPUTER HAS MADE life easier for architects, builders, and contractors who send and save files and images. The necessary hardware and storage space can get pricey, however. Santa Monica, Calif. –based Xdrive offers a solution: an Internet-based virtual drive that allows construction...
A new HUD rule sets goals for the next three years for Fannie's and Freddie's purchases of mortgages in several loan categories.
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Builders looking to spur buying among first-time new-home buyers may want to try the Owner Lease Program from Move-Up America. The program lets homeowners with an existing home purchase a new home from a participating builder while keeping their existing home as a rental. Under the terms of the...
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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation in early October that the California BIA says could possibly free up the majority of the state's 90,000 to 100,000 brownfield sites for development. The bill says builders are free from liability if they have complied with the state's cleanup...
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Pusing to win a bigger share of professional builders and contractors, Lowe's has developed a Web site called "For Pros Resource Center."
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Online real estate lending and real estate exchange LendingTree recently purchased iNest (www.iNest.com), an online new-home marketplace that features homes from 500 builders in 20 of the country's top home building states. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. According to LendingTree, iNest...
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Late last year, Lennar reported that it may have to delay until fiscal 2005 the delivery of about 600 homes that were promised for last year. The company attributed the delay to hurricanes in Florida and a cooling housing market in areas such as Las Vegas and Southern California.
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The first-ever national Habitat for Humanity Home Builders Blitz is scheduled for June 5-9, 2006.
FLORIDA BUILDERS HAVE A MESS ON their hands. After four hurricanes, many areas need massive rebuilding and retrofitting but lack the labor and materials to get the job done quickly.
Why Buy New
Real estate experts and new-home buyers say there are many reasons for choosing new construction. By knowing what motivates them, builder sales staff can tailor presentations to address the most commonly mentioned benefits of a new house.
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Builders see themselves as champions of free enterprise delivering the American Dream of homeownership to millions of Americans. The negative Web postings depict builders as unscrupulous businesspeople who market shoddy, hastily built products and force people into binding arbitration agreements...
As builders search for success in these uncharted waters, it's critical to recognize the complex nuances within the immigrant buyer mix
What passes for pretty in the city might not pass muster in the suburbs.
In recent years, strict design regulations began to filter down to multiphase subdivisions from Tucson, Ariz., to Tallahassee, Fla. Now, hot housing markets and more sophisticated and diverse buyers are raising the bar on design irrevocably in many parts of the country, even on entry-level homes.
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Data have begun to validate suspicions that in some regional markets speculators have pushed demand -- and prices -- beyond their natural limits.
Shea Homes has maintained its attention to leadership principles and total quality management, enabling it to solidify its position as the nation's largest privately owned home builder.
Wieland's vision has facilitated much of the company's growth -- including into a handful of other Southern markets -- but the focus on distinctive design, customer service, and community involvement, administered by many long-serving employees, has solidified Wieland's position as a top builder.
Accepting the fact that you can't control everything, learning to be flexible, and looking for ways to make things work through every challenge are keys to success in residential construction.
The president of Houston-based McVaugh Custom Homes has been building in one form or another his whole life.
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DURING THE PAST FEW YEARS, IT HASN'T BEEN TOUGH to score big in the housing industry. Smart builders have taken advantage of the opportunities presented by strong demand, coupled with buyers' tolerance for substantially higher-priced homes.
Inspiration for the Shingled Cottage came as the architect spent time walking through the older neighborhoods near Baldwin Park.
The architect says he was drawn to the New Urban Challenge because it offered an alternative to the "prevailing trend in our business of big, bigger, biggest."
The Classic Residence is designed for a young family of urban professionals. They can afford whatever they want, and they don't want a big house, a town-house, or a high-rise. They're buying comfort, not square footage.
Take three very tight lots, three distinct buyer profiles, and strict architectural guidelines, and give them to three world-class architects. What do you get? Three small servings of perfection.The response from the architects to the New Urban Challenge was intensely personal. They designed houses...
Builders are being forced to jump through hoops to comply with zoning that some say is out of step with current land-use trends, home and lot designs, and buyer demands.
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THE NEW AMERICAN HOME 2005 WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE without the generous support and contribution of products and services by the members of the NAHB's National Council of the Housing Industry (NCHI)/Supplier 100 and other consultants, contributors, installers, suppliers, and trade partners.
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Why It Worked: Research conducted with local home buyers revealed demand for move-up homes with more amenities, such as the 16 miles of hiking trails that connect with a county-wide trail system.
WHY IT WORKED: When Falls Run, an active adult community outside Washington, opened in February 2002, it was a case of right time, right location. It appeals to those 55 and older who want a resort lifestyle but don't want to give up being close to family and friends. “Our original plans called for...
New NAHB president wants the association to strengthen and highlight its core offerings.
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THE NAHB RESEARCH Center is celebrating the nationwide rollout of its National Housing Quality (NHQ) Certified Builder program at this year's International Builders' Show. The center piloted the program for more than a year and is now helping builders across the country to realize the efficiencies...
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THE NATION'S HOME BUILDERS OPERATED IN a very favorable economic and financial market environment in 2004, and home sales and single-family housing starts soared to record levels. But inventories of unsold homes moved up during the year as well, and financial market conditions promise to be less...
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AFTER THE HOUSING MARKET'S PHENOMENAL performance in 2004, it's natural to wonder if the streak will continue as we move into the second half of the decade.
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- The NAHB promotes aging-in-place features new and existing homes.
- The NAHB's Building Systems Council (BSC) announces the winners of its 2004 Excellence in Marketing and Home Design Awards.
- Eighteen states surpass their prerecession employment peaks, boding well for housing demand.
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- Nextel introduces the i860 picture phone.
- Software vendor Builder MT develops field management software for builders to manage projects on a wireless Tablet PC.
- Home Director enters a joint agreement with HomeLogic to develop a next-generation home automation system.
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This laboratory provides academics an opportunity to work with industry manufacturers, designers, and home builders to test ideas and bring the next generation of home technologies and home medical applications to market.
THE INTERNATIONAL BUILDERS' SHOW can overwhelm even the most seasoned trade show attendee. That's why each January we pull together a collection of the best products on the exhibition floor—ones you should be sure to see.
DESPITE A WHITE-HOT MARKET, THE SECOND-HOME LANDSCAPE on Hawaii's Big Island is pretty competitive. To make its Kahakai Estates project stand out Honolulu-based Stanford Carr Development offered 98 one-acre, home sites (two-thirds of which were luxury spec units), at nearly twice the average lot...
JOKE IF YOU WANT ABOUT NEW JERSEY, BUT WHEN IT COMES to selling high-density waterfront housing, few can match the Landings at Harborside in Perth Amboy. The first phase of 78 homes of the project's 2,100-unit master plan sold out in 10 days, thanks largely to an innovative sales and design center...
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Antigrowth land-use policies, often developed under the guise of smart growth, cause housing shortages that bring real hardship to families, especially low- and moderate-income families who lack the resources to find adequate housing in a market in which demand exceeds supply.
Radco's handling of the Residences at RiverBend crisis has lessons that can teach anyone needing to bring a dying project back to life just how it's done.
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In an effort to make homes green and affordable, The Enterprise Foundation/Enterprise Social Investment Corp. and the Natural Resources Defense Council have launched the Green Communities Initiative to create 8,500 affordable green homes by offer financing, grants, and technical assistance to...
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Several manufacturers have begun to offer broad band cable packages that give homeowners the ability to use a cell phone to monitor their home and be instantly notified when things go wrong.
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EVERY YEAR, DES MOINES, Iowa–based Bloodgood Sharp Buster Architects & Planners (BSB) holds an internal design contest among its offices across the country. Used as a way to foster healthy competition, the event has new meaning this year. Instead of a fictitious client, the winning house will be...
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A new study suggests that the most successful companies go beyond listening to what customers say they want and instead anticipate their needs before customers even know they have them.
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The House Financial Services Committee—which oversees the housing industry for the U.S. House of Representatives—requested in November that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) review how information technology and electronic commerce affect real estate services. Chairman Rep. Michael Oxley...
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The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of Kelo vs. City of New London, a Connecticut property rights case that could have a broad effect on governments' ability to seize property and transfer it to another private owner. The Fifth Amendment allows governments to take private property...
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Mired in an accounting scandal, Fannie Mae's board of directors ousted chairman and CEO Franklin Raines and Timothy Howard, the financial giant's CFO, on Dec. 21. The announcements of Raines' early retirement and Howard's resignation came days after the Securities and Exchange Commission directed...