Building Market Intelligence

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The Times They Are A-Changin’

It’s Official: A Democratic Sweep… Now What? Although the parties in office play only a small role in the performance of housing, we are often asked about the historical impact of the party in office. We analyzed the last 50 …

Bad Moon Rising?

What Can We Expect from Congress? Legislation is impactful to the cyclical nature of this business. And today, there are critical issues on the horizon that will affect the next leg of this cycle. Here is our take on the …

Fort Myers: Finding Bottom, But With A Crash Landing

The Fort Myers housing market can be likened to a roller coaster ride over the last six years. The market emerged from nowhere to become a top-10 housing market as a wave of investors drove up home prices, and builders …

Running With the Devil

Inside the Bailout: What We Get vs. What We Need The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA), signed into law on Friday, was adorned with billions of dollars in earmarks. Still, it seems there was little room for home …

Distress Breeds Opportunity

As market conditions continue to soften, even the builders who have already filed bankruptcy are licking their chops – anticipating what will certainly become the land buying opportunity of this generation. In preparation, they’re lining up new equity partners and …

Featured Market: Riverside-San Bernardino

The Riverside-San Bernardino market has plunged from one of the hottest markets in the country in 2004 to one of the most challenging markets today. The change in numbers is staggering: Job Growth: From 60,800 payroll jobs added in 2004 …

The National Bank of the United States

The U.S. government now controls the U.S. mortgage industry, which means two very favorable things for home builders: The near-term future of mortgage liquidity will be set by policy rather than economics. In an election year, that can only be …

First Impressions Are Crucial

In today’s competitive environment, you really have to stand out. A potential buyer’s first impression should be very positive. Clean Up the Neighborhood How does the neighborhood look? Is there something you can do to clean it up? Identify the …

Permit Plummet Is Astonishing

Single-family permits in the Northeast, Midwest and West are already below their respective troughs in 1991, and the South is well on its way to a similar decline. In all regions, single-family permits have declined by 50% or more from …

National Affordability Statistics Are Misleading

In recent weeks, we were in several meetings where analysts made the bullish argument that affordability had improved to the point where home prices could fall no further. While affordability has indeed returned to normal levels (as shown by the …