Building Market Intelligence

While officials are gearing up for tomorrow’s meeting on GSE reform, the GSEs are losing millions of dollars every hour. Why? Because home prices are falling again. We have a solution. Recent Market Changes: When the tax credit expired on …

In March 2008, we rolled out an educational video on housing cycles that ended with, “Remember that every down cycle is the beginning of the next up cycle.” We talked about the 3 factors that needed to be in place. …

There are great home price tools today to help you with the decision you are making. However, Case Shiller (CS) and median prices are not the right ones. Executive decision makers want to know whether prices are trending up or …

We are pleased to announce that we are joining forces with all 8 members of Sullivan Group Real Estate Advisors, effective today. Tim Sullivan and his very experienced consulting team will boost our already stellar U.S. consulting practice. Enhancing our …

Builders make a $6 million gamble every time they start a new home community. A 75-home community that costs $80,000 per home to build equates to $6 million in construction costs. If the builder builds anything other than the homes …

Does anyone really think that homeowners can afford to pay 60% of their income for housing? Apparently, the architects of the latest loan modification program called HAMP do. Government officials are touting that they are saving the housing industry by …

Several builders have conducted great consumer research (at a minimal cost per house) to help them design floor plans that buyers can’t find anywhere else in the new or resale market. They learned that today’s buyer is much different from …

Sales boomed last Fall as the tax credit expiration approached in November. With the new deadline approaching, sales have improved this Spring, but not nearly as much. The pending home sales index through February, which is shown here, shows the …

The demand for new entry-level homes far exceeds the demand for larger, more expensive homes for all of the following reasons: Affordability for renters is the best in decades, with low home prices, 5% mortgage rates, and low down payment …