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The figures showed that by 2000, 66.2 percent of Americans owned their homes, the highest homeownership rate ever recorded. "That growth could continue apace if mortgage rates remain low and the economy keeps from falling off a cliff," says John Martin of Martin and Associates, a market analysis...
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Most of the permits issued within core cities were for single-family development. "But the demand does not seem to be for more rental housing, but, in fact, for more homes for sale," Lang says.
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The Age Factor: Shades of Gray
By Matthew Power and Daniel Walker Guido. "Today's senior wants a large airy home with high ceilings, upscale appliances, and a low-maintenance exterior," says Annie Gerard, vice president of senior housing for National Survey Systems. "We're looking at an aging boomer population of 78 million...
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Most (three-quarters) of the interior West of the United States, defined as 12 states east of the Sierras and west of the Great Plains, has a sparse population, with fewer than six people per square mile. But in about 10 percent of the 247 counties of the Old West, the New West has come calling.
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More than a half-million immigrants born in each of the following countries currently live in the United States: Cuba, India, El Salvador, Germany, Russia, Vietnam, and the Dominican Republic.
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Long before September 11, builders had begun to suspect that Hollywood's depiction of America might be a hoax. But as the latest U.S. census results come under closer scrutiny, it becomes clear that Hollywood assumptions range from the half-true (homes are getting larger, but the need for...
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Many retailers point to the fact that today's aboveground pools are built with more durable materials and more interesting designs. These changes make abovegrounds capable of having many of the same bells and whistles that ingroundpool owners enjoy. The changes go beyond the surface as well:...
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The industry's leading diving board manufacturer is taking steps to rekindle both consumer and industry interest in the boards. Fearing lawsuits, many builders, pool operators and service technicians have been reluctant to sell and/or install diving boards, or even work on pools that feature them.
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A survey of 14 Home Depot stores in Michigan between June 2001 and January showed that between 15 percent and 55 percent of all items for sale didn't have individual price tags, Granholm said. The state's pricing law requires retailers to mark individual items with a price tag. The Atlanta-based...
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Jim Previti wondered for a while how he would keep busy after selling Forecast Homes. "Having $240 million will give you a lot of confidence," says Previti, CEO and chairman of Empire Capital, his new company, located in Ontario, Calif.Previti signed a non-compete agreement with Forecast not to...
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According to a company spokesperson who asked not to be identified, Greenpoint (NYSE: GPT) wanted to slash its credit risks and to remove a "negative perception" associated with HUD-code housing. The $850 million of on-balance sheet MH loans have been sold to undisclosed Wall Street firms.Other...
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Home builders can breathe a small sigh of relief -- recently finalized wetlands regulations will ease nationwide permit requirements. And the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will no longer require builders to provide documentation of compliance with FEMA standards, reasoning that local regulations...
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Part of Weyerhaeuser Co.'s Northwest holdings, the Snoqualmie Forest just east of Seattle, Wash., has long been the object of affection for conservationists. Weyerhaeuser gets $185 million for 104,000 acres in the Snoqualmie Forest, and the trust gets control over future development -- or the...
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At a time when most builders are trying to get bigger, Larry Webb, CEO of WL Homes, says the time is right to have less leverage in the market place. After months of rumors, three of WL's nine divisions -- Nevada, Utah, and Washington, D.C. -- are officially on the market. The three divisions...
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The last time KB Home started a division from scratch was in 1997 in Austin, Texas, where it is the largest builder. Last year, Tampa issued more than 11,000 single-family permits. KB Homes expects to sell 600 homes in Jacksonville in 2002, and 23,000 homes as a company, including in France.Top...
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Less than a week after The Rottlund Co. announced it will buy back its outstanding shares and take the company private, the home builder finds itself named in a lawsuit filed to stop the self-tender offer.The plaintiff is James Biglan, a shareholder. He contends that the takeover breaches...
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In what promises to give Beazer Homes a foothold into a new market, its first in the Midwest, the Atlanta-based builder has signed a merger agreement with Crossmann Communities in Indianapolis for $610 million. The combined operation will deliver more than 15,500 homes yearly.
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Cost considerations, along with the desire to make an environmental statement, led the Spirit Lake, Iowa, Community School District to turn to wind energy. The results prompted the district to put up a second larger and more efficient turbine.
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Comfort Zone: Creating a Middle Ground for Green Building and Great ProfitsFinancing has often been the missing piece in green home sales. Nationally, Fannie Mae offers an energy-efficient mortgage, which allows a lender to use the estimated monthly utility savings to increase an applicant's buying...
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Towns, school districts, and farms already have taken advantage of wind as a free energy resource. Larger turbines are more cost effective: They can work at one-fifth the cost of smaller systems, according to the American Wind Energy Association.