Building Market Intelligence

In 15 months, the Western Region of the U.S. has gone from the best market to the worst market. This month, builder sales and traffic reached its lowest level since the NAHB began tracking the statistics nearly 23 years ago. …

The fourth quarter is going to be a very interesting test to see how well the economy holds up during the housing downturn. Based on our conversations with builders and trades from all over the country, construction is likely to …

Your salespeople are the key to your community’s success. The most successful salespeople build great relationships with potential buyers. They listen to their needs. They treat them like they want to be treated. They know the answers to buyers’ questions. …

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Winston Churchill Growth Opportunities – For those home building companies that are able to remain financially sound while their competitors are reeling, a downturn …

Consumers have remained amazingly confident during a housing market downturn that has lasted two years. However, we believe that is about to change. Consumer Confidence is heavily dependent on the sense of job security, and that sense is quickly eroding. …

Today, we are launching our 4th monthly e-mail newsletter, entitled Community Building Market Intelligence™. This e-mail is a complement to our U.S., Local and Strategic Building Market Intelligence™ e-mails and is designed to help builders maximize profits on their communities. …

For prices to return to their historical median ratio of housing costs / income, national prices would need to revert back to mid-2004 levels. This would be a 14% correction in price, assuming stable mortgage rates (an iffy assumption at …

In March 2004, home buyers with an adjustable-rate mortgage could qualify for a $450,000 mortgage. Today, that same buyer can only qualify for a $349,000 mortgage – a decline of 23%. When you now add to the equation that the …

The public builders in our industry are reporting record writeoffs, yet many in our industry continue to view this downturn as temporary. Even more disturbing is the lack of effort we see among some firms to react passionately to save …