Building Market Intelligence

We are most likely in a very mild recession right now. Unemployment spiked this month, and consumer confidence has fallen to 88.6, which is well below the long-term average of 98.6. The Fed now knows that it should have dropped …

We put a lot of thought into our final e-mail of the year, so we apologize for the length of it. We truly hope our thoughts help you succeed in 2008 and become the foundation around which you plan your …

This month, we focus on the government’s impact on housing. Paulson-Bush Plan – Much Ado About Nothing We can’t find anyone credible who believes the Paulson-Bush plan that was announced on December 6 will significantly help the housing market. According …

There is a real threat that mortgage bankers will become far more conservative in the coming months. For planning purposes, we suggest that your business plan consider a scenario where you can only sell homes to very high-quality borrowers. For …

Point of Clarification – Before we address this week’s topic, we need to address some feedback from our last e-mail. We were not predicting a quick turnaround, but merely pointing out that a healthy economy will help the housing market …

Despite the tough times in housing, the economy continues to grow, and that will make the recovery in housing happen much sooner. The energy sector in particular is thriving, spurred by a falling dollar and skyrocketing commodity prices. Many other …

Truly understanding what buyers’ considerations are during the new home buying process is essential to building a successful marketing campaign. With so many incentives and deals offered to attract buyers into new home neighborhoods in today’s soft market conditions, it …

Protecting your brand in a downturn is not an easy thing to do. Tough decisions have to be made, and those decisions adversely impact your relationships with employees, home buyers, cities, trade contractors, and financial partners. In a market like …

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. …