Headline News

Housing Stimulus Improves Builders' Outlook for Sales

Anticipating the positive impact of the newly enacted housing stimulus legislation, the outlook of single-family home builders for home sales in the next six months showed some improvement in August’s NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), which was released on Aug. 18.

While the overall confidence measure held steady at 16, the component gauging sales expectations rose two points to 25.

“With the passage of crucial housing legislation last month that created an attractive home buyer tax credit, there is a sense that home sales may soon be reaching a turning point,” noted NAHB President Sandy Dunn. “Builders are anticipating the stimulative effects of this legislation and are optimistic that the tax credit will give those buyers who’ve been sitting on the fence the reason they need to jump back into the market.”

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, signed into law by President Bush on July 30, implemented several critical reforms to the housing finance system, provided aid to troubled home owners facing foreclosure and created a temporary $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers who meet certain income requirements. NAHB has developed a Web site at www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com to promote the tax credit and answer commonly asked questions about it.

“While our overall measure of builder confidence remains at a record low at this time, it is a good sign that two out of three of the HMI’s component indexes rose in August, and this may be an indication that we are nearing the bottom of the long downswing in new-home sales,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “Our current forecast shows stabilization of sales during the second half of this year, followed by solid recovery in 2009 and beyond.”

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for more than 20 years, the HMI gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales, sales expectations for the next six months and traffic of prospective buyers. Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

In the August HMI, the index on current sales conditions climbed one point to 16, while the measure of prospective buyer traffic remained unchanged at 12.

Regionally, the Northeast and Midwest each posted gains in builder confidence, with the Northeast up two points to 16 and the Midwest up four points to 14. The South remained unchanged at 20, and the West, whose new-homes market has been heavily impacted by an upswing in foreclosure sales at cut-rate prices, posted a decline of three points to 11.

Source: www.nbnnews.com

NAHB States that Number of Certified Green Professionals Now Top 1,000

More than 1,000 builders, remodelers and other members of the home building industry have earned the Certified Green Professional (CGP) educational designation since it was introduced early this year by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

"Of course we expected the CGP to be popular, because as green building grows, many consumers are looking for a builder with real credentials in today's market," said NAHB President Sandy Dunn, a home builder in Point Pleasant, W. Va. "Nevertheless, this is phenomenal growth. The home building industry clearly sees the value of this designation and consumers will, as well."

Home owners and home buyers interested in a state-by-state list of CGP builders and remodelers can visit the NAHB Website www.nahb.org/builderremodelerdirectory and click on CGP.

Certified Green Professionals must complete 24 hours of classroom training including 16 hours of green building instruction; must have two years' industry experience, must sign a code of ethics and must commit to fulfilling continuing education requirements to qualify for the designation.

Most classes are available through state and local home building industry associations, NAHB conferences and other events. In fact, 53 "Green Building for Building Professionals" two-day classes are already scheduled for the next eight months, with more classes added weekly.

The educational designation is an important part of the new NAHB National Green Building Program, introduced in February. This voluntary, industry-wide program for residential construction also includes an online home scoring tool at www.nahbgreen.org.

Source: NAHB.org

NAHB: First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Will Help Stimulate Housing Market

According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the nation’s home builders are confident that a new temporary $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers included in a landmark housing bill enacted into law last week will get buyers back into the marketplace and help end the current cyclical downturn in the housing industry.

“First-time home buyers make up about 40 percent of the entire market,” Sandy Dunn, president of the NAHB and a home builder from Point Pleasant, W.Va., said during a news tele-conference held yesterday to highlight the provisions and benefits of the new housing stimulus legislation. “They don’t have a home to sell and they bring demand to the market. As more than 2 million anticipated first-time buyers enter the market and claim the credit, this will stimulate buying up the housing ladder.”

Ed Brady, a home builder from Illinois who builds about 130 homes annually, said the biggest problem in his market is a backlog of inventory.

“The housing bill contains two key components that will help take inventory off the market and restore a more normal supply-and-demand balance,” said Brady.

Brady said the temporary, first-time home buyer tax, which expires on July 1, 2009, will provide prospective buyers a major financial incentive to get off the fence and jump back into the market.

While getting more first-time home buyers into the market will help to whittle down existing inventory, Brady also noted that the new law provides FHA insurance for a program geared to prevent families facing foreclosure from losing their homes.

“Together, the first-time home buyer tax credit and foreclosure relief in the housing bill will help to reduce inventories,” said Brady. “In turn, this will firm up prices and send a signal that we are either at the bottom or very near the bottom and that there isn’t a better time to buy than today’s market.”




 
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