Housing & Development

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Annual single-family housing production in 2008 and 2009 fell about one million units short of the housing that would be needed in a normally functioning economy, suggesting that builders will have a lot of catching up to do as the economy improves and household formations return to trend levels, according to a special study by economists at the National Association of Home Builders.The report, "Extent of Underbuilding in the Single-Family Housing Market," finds that there was an excessive amount of single-family building from 2003 through 2005, but overbuilding largely ended by 2006 and the subsequent downturn was severe enough to more than offset those annual surpluses. This year is likely to add to the growing deficit of single-family homes by another one million units, the report finds.

CHICAGO, IL - November 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A national listing of energy efficient commercial buildings in the United States that are included in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR program is now available on a new mobile phone application offered by LessEn, an Urban Land Institute (ULI) initiative to help lessen energy consumption in commercial buildings around the globe

Chicago, IL - November 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A broad and diverse coalition of over 30 organizations active in countries around the world announced a Call for Partners today for an international alliance advocating for sustainable building practices as a key strategy for combating climate change

Chicago, IL - November 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), developers of the LEED green building program today announced LEED Automation, a new program in collaboration with leading technology companies that is designed to streamline and create capacity for the LEED building certification process. LEED Automation enables LEED Online, the online tool projects use to submit documentation and certify LEED projects, to interact with third party technology platforms.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Nationwide housing starts declined 11.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 519,000 units in October, according to figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department today. The decline was primarily registered in the more volatile multifamily sector, where starts retreated 43.5 percent to an 83,000-unit rate, while single-family starts posted a more modest 1.1 percent decline to 436,000 units."Home builders continue to be very cautious about starting new projects at this time," said Bob Jones, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Bloomfield Hills, Mich. "That said, in markets where consumer demand for new homes is reviving, builders are finding it almost impossible to obtain construction financing, and this frustrating situation is producing an unnecessary drag on both new home production and economic growth."

Washington D.C. - November 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) proudly recognized outstanding chapters and exceptional volunteer leaders with the annual Awards of Excellence. Awarded in Chicago at USGBC’s Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, the awards are presented to chapters and individuals that excel in providing local green building outreach and education, and in fostering best practices among the green building community. The chapter award categories are Community Building and Education, and award categories for chapter leaders include: Green Building Community Champion; Premier Volunteer Programmer; Outstanding Emerging Professional; and Outstanding Green Advocate. Since the inception of the program, the awards have been supported by USGBC national member Milliken & Company.

Washington, DC - November 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The latest independent audit of the Federal Housing Administration shows the agency’s financial condition has improved from last year, when it announced its capital reserve fund had fallen below the 2 percent level mandated by Congress. The annual audit shows that the capital ratio for the single-family portfolio rose from 0.42 percent to 0.79 percent over the past year.

Washington, DC - November 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Although the recent trend of rising long-term borrowing rates may mean higher mortgages for consumers in the coming months, the greater obstacles to housing market recovery are job creation and availability of credit, according to a National Association of REALTORS® analysis.

Chicago, IL - November 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Bank of America announced the ten recipients of the Affordable Green Neighborhoods Grant Program. Funded by a $500,000 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, the program awards financial and educational resources to help neighborhood projects that have affordable green housing components in their plans pursue LEED for Neighborhood Development. LEED for Neighborhood Development is a green rating system from USGBC that certifies whole neighborhoods, portions of neighborhoods or multiple neighborhoods. The selected development projects were announced at the Affordable Housing Summit at USGBC’s Greenbuild International Conference & Expo

WASHINGTON, DC - November 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager today invited non-profit groups and public entities to apply for loans to rehabilitate multi-family housing in rural areas.

FAYETTEVILLE, AR - November 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A $55,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant from Bank of the Ozarks and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) will assist the Fayetteville Housing Authority with much needed repairs to apartments for very low-income residents.

The House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill that would help protect insurance markets in disaster-prone states from suffering devastating losses in the event of a catastrophic natural disaster.

Scaled-back lending practices, risky loans, oversupply and low demand continue to plague the nation's housing markets, driving down prices and stalling sales.

The Structural Insulated Panel Association (SIPA) is now accepting entries for the sixth annual Building Excellence Awards. This unique competition recognizes the exceptional projects that SIPA members build with energy efficient structural insulated panels (SIPs)

Market It was a mystery that only the crack investigators at RSI — the REALTOR® Scene Investigation — could uncover.

Washington, D.C., November 9, 2007 -- Recognizing that immediate assistance is needed for those living near coastal areas who are grappling with skyrocketing property insurance premiums, Senator Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, today introduced two bills to help American homeowners and businesses lessen the financial strain experienced as a result of natural disasters

One of the best ways to live well is to choose a hometown that has access to arts, leisure, and entertainment offerings – plus a low cost of housing.

November 8, 2007 -- Chairman Schumer, Vice Chairman Maloney, Representative Saxton, and other members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me here this morning to present an update on the economic situation and outlook.

How do you fix a troubled housing market? Forbes.com asked that question of a broad range of housing experts, including CEOs of real estate firms, real estate practitioners, economists from lending institutions, and research directors at analytics firms. Here are five of their best suggestions.

WASHINGTON - November 7, 2007 - The Supportive Housing Investment Partnership, a collaboration between Enterprise Community Partners and the Corporation for Supportive Housing, recently released a comprehensive update on how states are using innovative policies to produce permanent affordable housing with support services to address homelessness.