Archives

Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes held steady in November at a level of 63 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

The USGBC Board of Directors announced today that Mahesh Ramanujam has completed the transition into his new role as president and CEO of USGBC, effective Nov. 4, 2016. He will also serve as president and CEO of USGBC’s sister organization, GBCI. Formerly USGBC’s COO, Ramanujam takes the reins from Rick Fedrizzi, USGBC’s founding chair, who had previously announced plans to leave the organization toward the end of 2016.

The Commercial and Industrial (C&I) sector represents an extraordinary opportunity to deploy solar energy, but has experienced relatively slow growth due to a wide range of complexities in ownership structure, creditworthiness of the end-consumer, and other issues. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and an array of industry experts – convened as the SEIA Finance Initiative and its Commercial Real Estate working group – investigated the opportunity, associated barriers, and potential solutions of this underserved market.

The author and man who “repairs the fabric of cities,” Jonathan F.P. Rose, will serve as the Plenary Keynote Speaker during Building Innovation 2017: The National Institute of Building Sciences Fifth Annual Conference and Expo, to be held January 9-12, in Washington, D.C.

After the formal adoption of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) manual, Distributed Energy Resources Rate Design and Compensation, the solar industry and advocates released the following responses:

The Federal Housing Administration’s just released (link is external) actuarial report shows that the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund is on a steady financial trajectory, a finding the National Association of Realtors® believes is an opportunity to make FHA’s low-down-payment mortgage option available to an even broader swath of borrowers

Bill Brown, a second generation Realtor® from Alamo, California was installed today as 2017 president of the National Association of Realtors® at the association’s Board of Directors meeting during the 2016 REALTORS® Conference & Expo. Brown has been active in real estate for 36 years and is the founder of Investment Properties, a division of the family real estate business started by his father, William H. Brown, in 1964, which focuses on the sale of apartment buildings to both institutional and private capital investors.

Earlier today, HUD released its 2016 Annual Report to Congress on the financial status of the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMIF). The report finds that the value of the MMIF, which funds FHA's single-family homeownership and reverse mortgage loans, grew by $3.8 billion to $27.6 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2016, its fourth consecutive annual increase.

David H. Stevens, CMB, President & CEO Mortgage Bankers Association, issued the following statement regarding FHA's Annual Report to Congress. "FHA and its leadership should be commended for the steps they have taken to improve the value of the FHA MMI fund for single family mortgages since the economic crisis, at the same time they have provided access to homeownership for hundreds of thousands of low and moderate income Americans. The core strength of FHA's forward book of business is representative of growing stability of the housing market nationally

Pat G. Kaplan, a Realtor® from Portland, Oregon has received the National Association of Realtors® 2016 Distinguished Service Award. The honor is presented yearly to no more than two of NAR’s more than 1.2 million members. Winners were recognized at the REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Orlando, Florida.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS) data for October 2016 shows mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 8 percent relative to October 2015. Compared to September 2016, applications decreased by 2 percent. This change does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns

Fifteen nonprofit community development organizations were recognized today for their excellence in sustainable business and housing practices that are designed to save people money by NeighborWorks America. To date, 95 network members have earned the NeighborWorks Green Organization designation.

An upcoming webinar hosted by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), jointly presented with the American Bar Association Construction Forum, the Modular Building Institute and the National Institute of Building Sciences Offsite Construction Council (OSCC), will cover a variety of unique commercial and legal issues in industrial, commercial and residential modular construction.

Tuesday, November 15, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm ET, the National Institute of Building Sciences Multihazard Mitigation Council (MMC) will present the webinar, titled “How Does Business Continuity Contribute to Community Resilience?". Don't miss it! Registration closes today.

The National Institute of Building Sciences Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) announces the appointment of Illya Azaroff, Teresa Rainey and David Underwood to serve as the jury for the 2016 Beyond Green™ High-Performance Building and Community Awards.