Posts by bblack_bentley@westtnhba.com

What Design Trends Will Have Staying Power in 2024? For remodelers looking to elevate their businesses in the new year, staying on top of the latest housing trends is a must. In this installment of NAHB’s Remodeling Forecasts, Myths & Trends video series, sponsored by Lowe’s Pro, Pro Remodeler’s managing editor Caroline Broderick digs into which home…

In a Win for NAHB, Congress Extends Funding for NFIP With the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and federal government 48 hours away from a funding lapse, House and Senate lawmakers acted in a bipartisan manner to fund the operations of the federal government, including the NFIP, through early next year. NAHB has been at…

Rising Mortgage Rates Push Housing Affordability to Lowest Level in Index History Rising mortgage rates, elevated construction costs and limited existing inventory helped push housing affordability in the third quarter of 2023 to its lowest level in more than a decade. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI),…

NAHB Opposes H-2B Bill that Targets the Construction Industry In a pre-emptive move, NAHB has joined a group of 11 other leading organizations in the construction industry to send a letter to Senate and House leaders that strongly opposes pending legislation by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) that would impose harmful and…

Lack of Resales Boost New Home Sales in September Despite mortgage rates that are at a 23-year high, new home sales posted a double-digit percentage gain in September because of a lack of inventory in the resale market. Sales of newly built, single-family homes in September increased 12.3% to a 759,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate,…

Fed Chairman Signals a Possible Pause on Rate Hikes In a positive development for NAHB and the housing industry, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has signaled that the central bank is unlikely to raise rates further unless clear signs emerge that strong economic growth could trigger a rise in inflation. As reported by the Wall…

Who Are Today’s Home Buyers? Using the 2021 American Housing Survey (AHS), NAHB investigated the characteristics of recent home buyers — defined as households who purchased homes in the two years preceding the date the 2021 AHS was conducted — in a new special study. According to this criterion, roughly 10.2 million households recently bought…

Funding for Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has Consequences for Housing In a case that could have significant repercussions for the housing industry, the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 3 heard oral arguments in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) v. Community Financial Services Association of America. The case centers on whether the way the CFPB receives its…

U.S. Lot Values Trail Inflation in Most Regions Lot values for single-family detached (SFD) spec homes continued to rise in 2022, according to NAHB’s analysis of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC) data, with the U.S. median lot value at $56,000 for SFD for-sale homes started in 2022. Even though lot values continued to…

Why Nominate an Associate for NAHB’s 2023 Leadership Grant? NAHB will once again honor select Associate members with a grant of $1,500 to use toward their travel expenses to attend the International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Las Vegas. Attending IBS will give these Associates the unique opportunity to learn from the industry’s best, discuss findings in breakout…