NAHB

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- As Congress looks into mandating E-Verify, a voluntary Internet-based system that allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the U.S., the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today urged lawmakers to ensure it is a fair, efficient and workable system and noted that this should be only one component in achieving comprehensive immigration reform.Testifying on the "Legal Workforce Act" (H.R. 2164) before the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement, Barry Rutenberg, first vice chairman of NAHB and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla., said that Congress should not end its efforts to address immigration issues after considering a compulsory E-Verify program for all U.S. employers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- As Congress looks into mandating E-Verify, a voluntary Internet-based system that allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the U.S., the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today urged lawmakers to ensure it is a fair, efficient and workable system and noted that this should be only one component in achieving comprehensive immigration reform.Testifying on the "Legal Workforce Act" (H.R. 2164) before the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement, Barry Rutenberg, first vice chairman of NAHB and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla., said that Congress should not end its efforts to address immigration issues after considering a compulsory E-Verify program for all U.S. employers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Nearly three out of four American voters believe that it is reasonable and appropriate for the federal government to provide tax incentives to promote homeownership, a sentiment that cuts across partisan and regional lines across the country, according to a recent poll conducted on behalf of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Tuesday, June 14 at 1:30 p.m., the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) will host a media teleconference to reveal the results of a national poll looking at voter attitudes toward homeownership and key housing policy issues.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Association of Home Builders’ quarterly Multifamily Production Index (MPI) recorded its third consecutive quarterly increase in the first three months of 2011 indicating continuing improvement in the multifamily housing market.The MPI, which tracks multifamily housing industry sentiment about the strength of the market on a scale of 0 to 100, increased from 40.8 in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 41.7 in the first quarter of 2011.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- As the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hears testimony on a suite of energy efficiency bills, including legislation to make residential housing more energy-efficient, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today urged lawmakers to take into account the differences in energy savings between the newest, highest-performing homes and older, less-efficient homes that comprise the vast majority of the nation's housing stock."With substantial amounts of energy lost in the nearly 130 million existing homes in the current stock, it is extremely important to develop an effective national energy policy that is not punitive to consumers who benefit from the most efficient new homes," Tony Crasi, a custom home builder from Akron, Ohio, told members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "Rather, the policy must promote an effective retrofit plan for older, less-efficient housing that allows builders and remodelers to create the benefits of energy efficiency for all housing."

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Despite the ups and downs of the housing market, home owners and non-owners alike consider owning a home essential to the American Dream.That's the key finding of a recent survey of people likely to vote in 2012 that was conducted on behalf of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) by Public Opinion Strategies of Alexandria, Va., and Lake Research Partners of Washington, D.C.

SOUTH BEND — (May 25, 2011) — The Saint Joseph County housing market is showing significant improvement in one key measure over the first four months of 2011. According to the latest data compiled by RE/MAX of Indiana, average home sales prices in Saint Joseph County went up nearly 11 percent from January to April over the same period in 2010. But, that’s only part of the story.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 3, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Tuesday, June 7 at 1:30 p.m., the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) will host a media teleconference to reveal the results of a national survey looking at the value voters place on homeownership. The survey of 2,000 likely voters in the 2012 presidential election finds that, despite the economic downturn and housing crisis, respondents still consider owning a home to be a solid financial investment. The survey examines attitudes on homeownership among current homeowners including those who currently owe more than their house is worth as well as renters, and asks about the biggest barriers to buying a home

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Bob Nielsen joined with Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory and members of the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati today to kick off National Homeownership Month at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new residential development in the city’s Bond Hill neighborhood. The development, called Villages at Daybreak, is a product of Cincinnati’s long-running CiTiRAMA® public-private partnership that has helped invigorate urban neighborhoods by encouraging the development of attractive and walkable new communities near the city center.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Thomas Vetter, MIRM, Master CSP, CMP, CSP, was appointed 2011 Vice Chair of the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) National Sales and Marketing Council (NSMC)this month during the NAHB Spring Board of Directors Meeting in Washington, D.C.Vetter is president of the western division at Accelerated Marketing Partners, a full service residential real estate marketing and consulting firm, based in Danville, Calif. He will begin his term as NSMC Chair during the 2012 NAHB International Builders Show in Orlando, Fla.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) named David Reznick, co-founder and chairman of the board of Reznick Group, P.C., the 2011 recipient of the Daniel M. Grady Memorial Award, in recognition of his more than 30 years of contributions and dedication to the cause of affordable housing.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- With some members of Congress actively pushing to abolish Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and end the federal backstop for housing, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) told Congress today that maintaining an appropriate level of government support is absolutely essential to preserve financial stability.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Home builders who have embraced social media strategies for marketing their business, have seen extraordinary results. According to the second edition of Social Media for Home Builders 2.0: It's Easier Than You Think, builders have seen results ranging from a 25-300 percent increase in website traffic, to increased customer referrals through using social media. This popular resource recently released by BuilderBooks, the publishing arm of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) teaches builders and residential construction professionals how to use social media tools such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, to increase their visibility and improve their sales results.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- At a time when qualified home buyers are experiencing difficulty in obtaining mortgages because of overly restrictive underwriting requirements, the federal government needs to ensure that a reliable and adequate flow of housing credit is available through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)."If we look to the dramatic increase of FHA's market share over the past few years, we can see how essential the program is for our nation's economic recovery," NAHB First Vice Chairman Barry Rutenberg, a home builder from Gainesville, Fla., told the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Nationwide housing affordability during the first quarter of 2011 rose to its highest level in the more than 20 years it has been measured, according to National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) data released today.The HOI indicated that 74.6 percent of all new and existing homes sold in the first quarter of 2011 were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,400. This eclipsed the previous high of 73.9 percent set during the fourth quarter of 2010 and marked the ninth consecutive quarter that the index has been above 70 percent. Until 2009, the HOI rarely topped 65 percent and never reached 70 percent.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 7.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 323,000 units in April, their best pace since December of 2010, according to figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department today. The report also showed that the nationwide inventory of new homes for sale continued to fall to just 175,000 units in April, which is a new record low."The fact that new-home sales have now risen for two consecutive months is certainly welcome news following an all-time low sales number in February," said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev. "That said, builders are still contending with a great deal of competition from foreclosed properties for sale in certain markets, and in places where this is not an issue, it remains extremely difficult to obtain credit to build new homes."

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) WHEN: Thursday, May 26, 2011 2:00 p.m. EDT WHO: David Crowe, Chief Economist, National Association of Home Builders Kermit Baker, Director of the Remodeling Futures Program, Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Nationwide housing starts fell 10.6 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 523,000 units as concerns regarding competition from foreclosures, a lack of consumer confidence in the housing market and the inability to secure production credit caused builders to slow production, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Commerce Department.“While mortgage rates are low and house prices are as affordable as they’ve been in a generation, the decline in April’s housing starts is indicative of the low level of confidence that consumers have in the housing market,” said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes held unchanged at the low level of 16 in May, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. The index has now remained at this level for six out of the past seven months.“Builder confidence has hardly budged over the past six months as persistent concerns regarding competition from distressed property sales, lack of production credit, inaccurate appraisals, and proposals to reduce government support of housing have continued to cloud the outlook,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, a home builder from Reno, Nev.