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Builder Magazine: Latest News
Construction activity declines 1 percent in July
WASHINGTON - Construction spending tumbled in July to the lowest level in a decade, as the housing market struggles in the weak economy and without a popular home-buying tax credit.
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Fed officials discussed further stimulus steps
WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve officials signaled at their August meeting that they would consider going beyond a modest program to purchase government debt if necessary to boost the economy.
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Banks to allow local groups to buy foreclosures
WASHINGTON - Major banks are agreeing to give local governments and nonprofit groups the ability to buy foreclosed homes before they are sold to private investors.
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Americans' economic confidence ticks up slightly
NEW YORK - Americans' confidence in the economy improved slightly in August from July, but they're still roughly as gloomy as a year ago.
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Aggressive Marketing and Discounting Drive McBride Homes’ Success
St. Louis-area builder positions itself as a housing “retailer.”
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Bald Eagle Factors Into Delaware Development Plan
Wharton’s Bluff receives National Green Building Standard recognition for avian habitat preservation.
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Builders Seek New Work in Older Homes
Historic preservation training program teaches valuable skills in a bad economy.
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Existing-Home Prices Rose in June
The S&P/Case-Shiller Indices show a 3.6% gain compared to the same month a year ago.
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Home values rose in second quarter
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Monday home values rose in all nine U.S. Census divisions in the second quarter compared with the first.
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Mortgage rates hitting record lows
Aug. 31--For anyone under the age of 57, mortgage rates are at the lowest point ever in their lifetime.
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2 new programs planned to help homeowners
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration's top housing official says several new programs are in the works to help try to revive the housing market.
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Structural Insulated Panels Have Many Fans, So Why Don't More Builders Use Them?
SIPs offer superior energy efficiency to conventional stick-frame building.
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Case Study: Post-Katrina, Mississippi Habitat Chapter Sets Its Sights on Green Building
Five years after the hurricane leveled much of the region, this ultra-green home is part of the Bay-Waveland chapter’s commitment to building sustainable, affordable dwellings.
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More Prime Real Estate is Coming Back on the Market in Southern California
An auction for nearly 750 finished lots in the Rosedale community is expected to fetch between $50 million and $70 million.
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Foreclosures cut number of 'underwater' homeowners in Hampton Roads
Aug. 27--The number of homeowners in Hampton Roads who owed more on their mortgages than their homes were worth slid to just below 70,000 at the end of June, according to a new report.
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More Florida homeowners in trouble with mortgage
Aug. 27--One in nine Florida households with a mortgage was at risk of foreclosure this summer and the bad news is; that's the good news.
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Builders' association 'disappointed' on sprinkler mandate
Aug. 27--Starting Jan. 1, homebuyers are expected to pay roughly $10,000 more for a new house to cover the cost of installing state-mandated sprinkler systems.
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Racial-bias case heads to Justice Department
Aug. 27--The Justice Department is taking over the case of Chicago radio personality George Willborn, who allegedly was the victim of racial discrimination in his family's failed efforts to buy a home in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood.
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Scarcity of jobs puts more at risk of foreclosure
WASHINGTON - The jobs crisis is putting more Americans at risk of losing their homes.
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Record-low interest rates fail to spur home buying in Madison area so far
Aug. 26--Like most places around the country, record-low interest rates on mortgages in the Madison area were creating a lot of refinancing business for banks but weren't triggering many new applications.
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