BISMARCK-MANDAN HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OCTOBER 2020 || WWW.BMHBA.COM
BUILDING Building Buzz is a publication of the Bismarck-Mandan Home Builders Association.
PROFESSIONALS BUILDING OUR COMMUNITY THROUGH
PROMOTION OF
SINCE 1958.
Bismarck-Mandan Home Builders Association 2600 Gateway Ave, Ste 1 Bismarck, ND 58503 Phone: 701.222.2400 Fax: 701.250.9730
www.facebook.com/bmhba
PRESIDENT Sattler Homes 701-255-7628 jeff@bismarckbuilder.com VICE PRESIDENT Aspire Homes 701-426-8583 greg@daretoaspire.com 2ND VICE PRESIDENT Triton Homes 701-223-3030 jamie.schmidt@investcore.com
Northern Plains Plumbing, Heating & Air 701-222-2155 greg@northernplains.net
www.twitter.com/bmhba
Townsquare Media 701-250-6602 bill.schmid@townsquaremedia.com
www.bmhba.com
Stoneshire Builders 701-471-6935 brian@stoneshirebuilders.com
TREASURER Boulder Homes 701-400-5554 boulderhomesnd@gmail.com Great Plains Rehab 701-400-0676 rtank@primecare.org
Hallmark Homes 701-471-7634 hallmarkhomes@outlook.com
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Dakota OutdoorScapes 701-214-1255 mckenzie@ndscapes.com
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Joe Vetter Construction 701-258-9394 joevetterjvc@gmail.com
Apex Builders 701-527-7899 amy@apexbuildersnd.com
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Dawn Watson dawn@bmhba.com Office: 701-222-2400 Cell: 701-390-5049
Elysha Head
Representing the diversity of the building industry, the BMHBA consists of building specialists from every section of the construction field and associated industries. Your membership strengthens our voice in Bismarck-Mandan construction sector as well as at a state and national level. Please renew your membership by October 31st, 2020.
Jan Hoge
Reid Kubesh
Sam Gietzen
Jared Winters
Amy Larsen
Shane Gaffaney
Chris Svanes
Jared Woll
Craig Gierke
Mike Ness
Cam Knutson
Jarred Roloff
Stephen Schnaible
Korey Zellers
Charlotte Erickson
Deborah Luptak
Mike Kambeitz
Nathan Pederson
Tylor Doll
Jackie Fakler
Anton Steckler
Kelli Thompson
Kevin Mach
Ted Lipp
Ross Nathan
Kateri Meier
Bruce Martin
Harvey Schneider
Melanie Pierson
Darin Martell
Jason Bauman
Katie Wiedrich
2020 October is here and looks to be bringing fall along with it. The fall parade of homes was September 24th – 27th. I hope all participating members had a good showing at their homes. In the 2020 Fall Parade of Homes we had 27 homes priced from $339,900 to $829,900. I would like to thank all the participating builders who entered a home into this parade. The parade of homes is one of the largest public events our association holds. In order to pull off this event, it takes an entire committee to host and organize. I would like to extend my thanks to the parade committee, chairwomen Kelli Thompson, HBA Staff and all participating builders. We have rescheduled our Fall GMM & Board Elections. This year we will be hosting it as a Holiday Mixer along with Board Elections on Dec. 8th at the Ramada Hotel here in Bismarck, ND. We have two associate member director positions available on the BMHBA board. If you would like to nominate someone, please let Dawn Watson know at the BMHBA office. Dawn can be reached at dawn@bmhba or 222.2400. I look forward to seeing you in December. This event includes an open bar and heavy appetizers. Sponsorships are available.
Regards,
2020 PRESIDENT :: BMHBA
Always remember to recruit. Now is a great time to reach out to your peers and share the benefits of the association brings, particularly the parade of homes. Ask them to join you as a member this year and help continue growing our association. We are only as strong as our membership.
‘15
‘16
‘17
‘18
‘19
‘20
JANUARY
0
9
1
0
10
FEBRUARY
3
4
5
2
MARCH
21
22
14
APRIL
52
29
MAY
31
JUNE
‘17
‘18
‘19
‘20
‘15
‘16
‘17
‘18
‘19
‘20
‘15
‘16
‘17
‘18
‘19
‘20
‘15
‘16
‘17
‘18
‘19
‘20
2
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
2
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
2
1
0
10
0
0
0
1
1
2
6
5
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
2
1
1
0
0
0
3
2
9
32
2
2
1
4
11
6
4
8
2
8
0
3
0
0
0
1
9
9
4
2
4
12
40
27
26
23
4
3
6
8
14
12
8
16
11
5
18
2
4
0
6
3
14
5
11
11
14
4
46
29
16
28
23
5
6
4
9
26
13
11
15
11
4
17
2
5
5
0
2
14
16
7
20
10
5
31
43
48
24
18
40
10
2
2
3
21
20
13
13
4
6
1
6
3
1
1
1
8
11
4
4
6
8
JULY
40
16
60
22
17
34
3
3
2
7
9
13
6
11
12
14
0
5
1
5
1
6
13
9
4
3
11
1
AUGUST
20
48
16
27
19
29
6
1
7
2
17
7
13
20
10
16
8
2
9
4
5
3
8
9
6
8
5
5
SEPTEMBER
28
44
26
22
23
8
3
10
16
14
26
11
10
3
3
4
5
2
9
9
9
6
5
OCTOBER
54
14
22
15
36
4
7
3
9
29
20
9
9
17
10
7
5
3
4
7
3
7
1
NOVEMBER
16
11
9
11
14
3
0
1
7
7
7
6
2
2
5
0
0
0
3
4
1
0
2
DECEMBER
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
4
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
TOTAL
297
28
45
27
36
34
132 123 114
116
71
53
67
40
37
28
20
18
83
80
51
61
60
39
YTD
297
28 270 169 201 193
45
27
36
34
132 123 114
116
71
53
67
40
37
28
20
18
83
80
51
61
60
39
‘16
270 169 201 193
BISMARCK SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING Big River Builders Diversity Homes Diversity Homes Diversity Homes J.E. Homes J.E. Homes Joe Vetter Construction K&L Homes K&L Homes K&L Homes Legendary Homes Pinnacle Homes Prestige Homes Sattler Homes Diversity Homes
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Data not collected for the ETA in 2015 and 2016.
MONTH YEAR
0
4016 Bugle Bnd 4003 Clairmont Rd 3807 Monreo Dr 404 Fields Court SE 2924 Peach Tree Dr 2922 Peach Tree Dr 1301 Eagle Crest Lp 5812 Heritage Ridge Rd 3915 Robinson Cir 5926 Heritage Ridge Rd 3810 Neptune Cir 3610 W Princeton Ave 4817 Kites Ln 4909 E Calgary Ave 4119 Herd Pl
0
MANDAN SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING Copper Ridge Design Diversity Homes J.E. Homes J.E. Homes J.E. Homes Premier Homes Premier Homes Premier Homes Premier Homes Verity Homes Verity Homes Verity Homes Verity Homes Verity Homes Verity Homes
507 Cobblestone Lp SW 404 Fields Court SE 3809 Amari Lp NW 3838 Amari Lp NW 3821 Amari Lp NW 2425 Water Park Lp SE 2427 Water Park Lp SE 2429 Water Park Lp SE 2431 Water Park Lp SE 505 Lena Ct 3718 Amity Circ SE 3710 Amity Circle SE 2006 34th Ave SE 4520 Corvette St NW 4522 Corvette St NW
Verity Homes Verity Homes
3814 Amity Circle SE 3706 Amity Circle SE
What a fun and exciting weekend we just had in BismarckMandan hosting our Fall Parade of Homes!
A BIG thank you to all the sponsor’s that supported the parade.
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BMHBA Parade APP – Sponsored by Starion Bank Builder Bags – Sponsored by Knife River Ticket Sponsors - Kupper Chevrolet - Montana Dakota Utilities - Choice Bank Door Prize Sponsors - Carpet World - $1,000 Gift Card - J&R Vacuum & Sewing - Premium Radiance Riccar Vacuum – valued at $1,599
• A big thank you to the builder members that participated this past weekend. We had 27 homes in • this year’s Fall Parade of Homes. We had high attendance all four days of the parade, beautiful • weather and beautiful homes featured. A special thank you to Kelli Thompson our Fall Parade of Homes Chair, the fall parade of homes committee, participating builder members, sponsor’s and all the builder volunteers that greeted and welcomed the public at each home. We could not have put on this event without all of you! Mark Your Calendars for our Spring Parade – We hope you come out again to support our local home builders on April 22nd -25th , 2021.
The BMHBA Professional Women in Building celebrated Professional Women in Building week - September 14-18th. They participated in a self defense class, volunteered at the Soup Kitchen and made blankets for the abused adult resource center.
The BMHBA is partnering with United Way and the BMHBA PWB October 20th and 21st, 2020 to pack backpacks for the United Way Back Pack program. The backpacks filled with food are sponsored by the BismarckMandan Home Builders Association. If you would like to volunteer for this event, please contact Dawn Watson at dawn@bmhaba.com or 390-5049.
On Tuesday, Sept. 1, the Mandan Remediation Trust (MRT) considered a letter from the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality (NDDEQ) related to the closure of the diesel fuel remediation system. The letter indicated July 2020 measurements did not show any significant increase of free product in any monitoring wells compared to 2018 and 2019. The decommissioning process of the remediation system will soon begin.
Bismarck Municipal Airport has received a $12.4 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to make infrastructure improvements.
Priority will be given to plugging wells and removing pipe in downtown buildings that have system equipment. Three monitoring wells along the south side of Main Street near the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) property will remain.
Airport Director Greg Haug said the grant will be used to continue work on water management improvements and wetland mitigation.
“Tuesday was a red-letter day for the 324th meeting of the Mandan Remediation Trust” said City Administrator Jim Neubauer. “It’s been nearly 16 years since the BNSF settlement, and we’re excited to begin shutting down the system.” Earlier this summer, the NDDEQ required one more measuring event for wells in the remediation plume area before giving the green light on the decommissioning process. The NDDEQ stated if the monitoring event did not show a significant increase in free product, there were no odor complaints received in the affected area, and the data indicated site stabilization after system shutdown, it would agree to initiate closure of active remediation. History: The MRT consists of City of Mandan representative Jim Neubauer, independent consultant Francis “Fritz” Schwindt and NDDEQ Director Dave Glatt. The MRT oversees the remediation of petroleum, contamination first discovered underground in downtown Mandan in 1984. In 2004, the State of North Dakota and City of Mandan reached a settlement with BNSF Railway for clean-up of the underground fuel spill. The remediation system was constructed between 20052007.
“This enables the airport to continue to perform much-needed drainage improvements, which will reduce wildlife attractants and move groundwater away from the airport’s new runway,” Haug said. The work will be done next year, the Bismarck Tribune reported. The grant is in addition to $20 million in aid through the federal economic rescue CARES Act which will distribute $85 million to dozens of airports in North Dakota.
That money is to support continuing operations and replace lost revenue from lower passenger traffic and other business due to COVID-19. Airline passenger numbers in North Dakota are continuing a slow rebound from spring’s historic low, though boardings in July still were less than half what they were the previous year. The decline in Bismarck was 61%.
November 3, 2020 is the official general election day. It is the day that North Dakota citizens, and everyone across the nation, will head to the poll to cast their vote for those they feel will best represent their views. Regardless of your political views, election day is a very important time and is about exercising your right to vote.
2020 NDAB PRESIDENT NATE APPLEGREN
NDAB CEO · KIM SCHNEIDER
In North Dakota, voters will have the opportunity to vote for President of the United States, United States Representative, Governor, Lt. Governor and several other statewide executives and judicial branch offices. Voters who live in even-numbered legislative districts will also select their representatives to the ND House of Representatives and North Dakota Senate. Voters may also face any number of constitutional amendments, initiated measures, or referred measures placed on the ballot by petition.
Since North Dakota is the only state without voter registration, we want to ensure you are prepared to vote. Below is some information to know ahead of time: In order to vote in North Dakota, you must be: •
A citizen of the United States;
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Eighteen years or older on the day of election;
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A resident of North Dakota;
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A resident in the precinct at least thirty days immediately preceding any election; and
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Able to provide a North Dakota driver’s license, nondriver ID, or tribal ID that includes your current residential address and date of birth. Ensure that your identification included your name, current residential or mailing address and date of birth.
If you are unavailable to go to your polling location on election day or maybe you prefer to cast your vote from the comfort of your own home, absentee voting is also an option. You can receive an absentee ballot by submitting a request with the valid information required to vote through the ND Secretary of State. To learn more about voting in North Dakota or to educate yourself on which candidates and issues will be on the November ballots, please visit the ND Secretary of States website at www.sos.nd.gov. Voter information, candidate information, dates, locations and even election results will all be made available here. "Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt Take care, Nate Applegren, NDAB President, Grand Forks Kim Schneider, NDAB Chief Executive Officer
According to the new 2019 American Housing Survey (AHS) released today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of American renter households spending 30 percent or more of their income on housing costs held steady at 51 percent between 2017 and 2019.
Food Security •
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During the summer and fall of 2019, 85 percent of households reported having a high level of food security, an increase of 3 percent since 2015. During the summer and fall of 2019, about 13.1 percent of households reported their food security as “marginal” or worse. During the summer and fall of 2019, about 10.4 percent of households reported that it was sometimes or often true that they were worried food would run out before getting money to buy more.
The 2019 AHS offers the most comprehensive picture of the nation’s housing inventory pre-pandemic. As researchers try to understand more current data on the Housing Costs: state of housing from multiple data sources, the new survey • More than half (51.4 percent) of renter households spend 30 informs our understanding of how the current housing percent or more of their income on housing costs, a slight decrease from 2017 (51.8 percent). challenges relate to the housing challenges pre-pandemic. •
The median rent was $909 per month while the median
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reported seeing signs of cockroaches in their home in the last 12 months. A much larger share of renters (15.9 percent) than owners (8.7 percent) reported seeing cockroaches. About 3.6 million households, or 3.0 percent of all households, reported signs of mold in their home in the last 12 months. Renters (4.4 percent) are more than twice as likely as owners (2.1 percent) to report signs of mold.
The survey also provides detailed information on the mortgage cost was $975. • The median total cost of utilities was $210. The median cost for accessibility of housing for persons with disabilities. Of the electricity was $109 per month and the median cost of water 126 million households in America, nearly 16 million include was $50 per month. at least one person who uses a wheelchair, walker, or other mobility devices. For the nearly 16 million households with Household and Home Size: • The median square feet per person was 700 in 2019. For black at least one member using a mobility device, nearly 56 alone householders, the median square feet per person was percent report their current home layout meets their 622 in 2019, an increase from 601 in 2017. For homes with accessibility needs “very well,” while more than 4 percent Hispanic householders the median square feet per person was reported their home did not meet their accessibility needs. 452 in 2019, an increase from 450 in 2017. • More than 28 million households (23.8 percent of all More than 4.2 million households reported at least one households) live in homes with more people than bedrooms. member had difficulty entering the home or apartment building and 3.2 million households reported at least one Housing Quality: member had difficulty using the kitchen. • Nearly 14 million households, or 11.3 percent of all households, The 2019 American Housing Survey data show that nearly 3.5 million homeowners plan to make home improvements to improve the accessibility of their homes.
“As the population grows older, it is important to address their needs, including home modifications to improve accessibility. This new American Housing Survey data reveal Neighborhoods: that millions of households may benefit from accessibility • Of the 29.8 million households with a person 55 or over, 3.9 improvements,” says Appleton, who also notes that home million live in age-restricted communities. modifications are an activity frequently undertaken by local • 80.6 percent of households believe their neighborhood has good schools. governments using HUD grant funds. Below are highlights from the 2019 national level findings among the 124.1 million occupied housing units. Home Accessibility: •
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•
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Nearly 16 million households, or 12.9 percent of all households, had at least one person reported using a mobility device. For households with at least one person using a mobility device, 55.9 percent reported that their current home layout met their accessibility needs “very well.” Conversely, 4.4 percent reported that their home did not at all meet their accessibility needs. Of the more than 60 million households with at least two floors, 45.8 percent had a bedroom on the entry level and 57.3 percent had a full bathroom on the entry level. Approximately 3.5 million owner-occupied households reported that they planned to make home improvements that would make their home more accessible to people with physical limitations.
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89.2 percent of households report no trash, litter, or junk on their street or nearby properties.
Home Improvement: •
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Homeowners performed over 114 million home improvement projects between summer 2017 and summer 2019, costing a total of about $521.8 billion. Of these projects, about 42.7 million were completed as Do-It-Yourself projects. Over half of homeowners are estimated to have made an improvement to their home between summer 2017 and summer 2019. Between 2017 and 2019, an estimated 273,000 homeowners spent about $3.7 billion on bathroom additions or renovating existing rooms to become bathrooms. The median cost per addition or renovation was $10,000. Bathroom remodels were about 20 times more common and about a third the cost, with an estimated 5.6 million homeowners spending $37.3 billion, and a median cost per remodel of $3,300.
The ICC Board of Directors Wednesday agreed with NAHB’s appeal related to a proposed change to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) that dealt with the efficiency of water heaters. NAHB and others argued, and ICC agreed, that the changes would have preempted federal law or would have exposed adopting jurisdictions to potential litigation related to the proposed requirements. The ICC Board decided to reject RE126-19 (and RE10719) on the basis that “potentially preempted provisions in the I-Codes is inconsistent with the spirit, intent and mission of the Code Council.” In addition to NAHB, the American Gas Association, American Public Gas Association and American Heating Refrigeration Institute filed similar appeals. RE126-19 was a proposal submitted by the National Resources Defense Council that put additional requirements on water heating products. NAHB and the other appellants believed the requirements were inconsistent with the National Appliance and Energy
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced today that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will extend buying qualified loans in forbearance and several loan origination flexibilities until Oct. 31, 2020. The changes are to ensure continued support for borrowers during the COVID-19 national emergency. The flexibilities were set to expire next week on Sept. 30.
Conservation Act (NAECA) by attempting to institute requirements inconsistent with federal law and would put ICC and adopting entities at risk of legal action should the proposed requirements be instituted. While the ICC disagreed with one point in the appeal that its development process was violated, the Board did agree that incorporating requirements contrary to federal law would be problematic. Accordingly, the Board determined that the approved language from RE107-19 and RE126-19 will not be included in the 2021 International Residential Code (IRC) or IECC. This was the first of three rulings by the Board on NAHB appeals. The final ICC Board decision on the last two appeals related to scope and intent and the codes development process and voting eligibility are expected around mid-October. For more information about the codes appeals, contact Craig Drumheller.
Extended flexibilities include: • •
•
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Buying qualified loans in forbearance; Alternative appraisals on purchase and rate term refinance loans; Alternative methods for documenting income and verifying employment before loan closing; and Expanding the use of power of attorney to assist with loan closings.
Lumber prices continue to climb as demand for new construction and remodeling remains solid. Since mid-April, the composite price of lumber, per Random Lengths, has increased by more than 150%. According to the most recent NAHB analysis, this is adding approximately $16,000 to the price of a typical, new single-family home and more than $6,000 to the average new apartment. Beyond lumber, prices of several other building inputs continue to rise, and average delivery times for many are growing. Such constraints in the supply chain will slow the growth rate for single-family construction and remodeling in the coming months. The residential construction market needs additional domestic lumber production and tariff relief for Canadian imports. Of course, the reason for these supply shortfalls is that housing remains in high demand. New home sales surged in July, increasing 14% and reaching a post-Great Recession high of 901,000 at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. Inventory fell to a lean four-month supply. New home prices are expected to rise due to increases in home size and building material costs. Similar trends were witnessed for the resale market, where the National Association of Realtors’ pending home sales index increased almost 6% in July and was estimated to be more than 15% higher than a year ago. Home price growth has been strong, with the Case-Shiller Index up 5.5% year-over-year in July. Changing consumer preferences and a pivot away from high-density markets has led to relatively more growth in suburban markets. According to the second quarter NAHB Home Building Geography Index (HBGI), of the seven tracked regional geographies, only small metro area suburbs posted a year-over-year gain in this quarter, while the others registered declines, the biggest of which occurred in large metro core areas. The market share for single-family construction in low-density areas (small metro core and suburbs, small towns and rural markets) increased from 47.5% a year ago to 48.4%. Moreover, these trends are not just present in single-family construction. The fastest growing geographies for apartment construction in the second quarter were found in the exurbs, small metro suburbs and rural areas. The market share for multifamily construction in low-density areas increased from 32.9% a year ago to 34%. Macroeconomic risks remain for the housing market. Weekly jobless claims continue to exceed 1 million, and the unemployment rate is still above 10%. This labor market weakness in turn is feeding concerns about the ability of households to make rent payments in the fall, although thus far, the data have come in better than expected. But for the home building industry, the rising cost of materials will hinder the rate of improvement witnessed during an otherwise solid summer.
Sallie Bradshaw watched as her father mixed and poured concrete on their home’s renovation at the age of 10 and was hooked. The founder of Bradshaw Construction in Middleton, Idaho, has since constructed more than 500 homes over the past three decades. The wife, mother and grandmother also said she’s seen a tremendous shift over the years in how women are viewed in the industry — and she couldn’t be more pleased. “Not too long ago, when I was beginning my career, the notion that a woman could be seen as something more than ‘a housewife with a hobby’ was a stigma that I had to work really hard to shake. And even now, after more than 500 homes built and dozens of subdivisions developed — in a career that included a lot of ups and downs — I have realized that being a woman in the building industry is not a hindrance but actually an advantage in some ways,” Bradshaw said. Bradshaw said her “mom cares about everyone” attitude is not unique, but one that is “innate in all women in business.” “I think as more of the industry considers our voice as a significant influence, we will continue to see more women emerge at the top of this field, something I welcome,” she added. Bradshaw Construction is also a family business, with Bradshaw’s sons and daughter among the employees working to build new custom homes. She is a member of the Professional Women in Building (PWB) Council at the Snake River Valley Building Contractors Association and is proud of the work she’s done with the group, including a Sleep in Heavenly Peace event building beds for needy children at a local Lowe’s. At the other end of the experience spectrum, Jennifer Hoffman is the owner and principal designer behind J. Hoffman Studio in Chapel Hill, N.C. Hoffman, who has been in the business since 2015, said she was nervous when she
started out, especially after being out of the traditional workforce for a dozen years raising her three children. With a background in architecture and some experience in construction during college, Hoffman began using her minivan to lug around lumber to job sites, which was met with more than a few raised eyebrows. She has since bought a pickup truck, which she hardly ever gets to drive anymore after hiring some staff and growing the business. While she’s thankful to have the help, Hoffman says she still feels the pressure of being a small business owner, responsible not just for her family, but for her employees and their families. “Don’t get me wrong, I love it. I’m happy to be in this industry and doing what I love,” said Hoffman. But she also said it’s important to have the support of other women in the industry, which she finds from other local tradeswomen and as part of the PWB Council at the Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange & Chatham Counties. “I feel like I rarely met women in my field when I ‘ ’ first started out. And while there are still a few men that aren’t sure what to make of a female doing the same job they’re doing, the majority are pumped and seem pretty excited and supportive,” Hoffman added. In order to keep growing the numbers of women in residential construction, and in managerial positions in the industry, women need to be champions for other women, encouraging them to take the leap into the historically male-dominated field.
In a strong signal that housing is leading the economic recovery, builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes increased five points to hit an all-time high of 83 in September, according to the latest NAHB/ Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. The previous highest reading of 78 in the 35-year history of the series was set last month and also matched in December 1998. “Historic traffic numbers have builders seeing positive market conditions, but many in the industry are worried about rising costs and delays for building materials, especially lumber,” said NAHB Chairman Chuck Fowke. “More domestic lumber production or tariff relief is needed to avoid a slowdown in the market in the coming months.” “Lumber prices are now up more than 170% since midApril, adding more than $16,000 to the price of a typical new single-family home,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “That said, the suburban shift for home building is keeping builders busy, supported on the demand side by low interest rates. In another sign of this growing trend, builders in other parts of the country have reported receiving calls from customers in high-density markets asking about relocating.” Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been
The White House today joined NAHB in opposing House energy bill H.R. 4447 due in part to problematic language regarding building codes that would harm housing affordability. NAHB has come out in strong opposition to the legislation because it would needlessly raise home construction costs while doing little to boost energy efficiency in the housing sector. NAHB ran a strong grassroots campaign asking our members to reach out their congressional members and urge them to oppose the legislation. Over the past two years, NAHB has also met with the White House to discuss our concerns regarding the building code language and we are pleased to see that the administration shares our concerns as well. The White House Statement of Administration Policy
conducting for 35 years, the HMI gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor. All the HMI indices posted their highest readings ever in September. The HMI index gauging current sales conditions rose four points to 88, the component measuring sales expectations in the next six months increased six points to 84 and the measure charting traffic of prospective buyers posted a nine-point gain to 73. Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast increased 11 points to 76, the Midwest increased nine points to 72, the South rose eight points to 79 and the West increased seven points to 85. HMI tables can be found at nahb.org/hmi. More information on housing statistics is also available at Housing Economics PLUS (formerly housingeconomics.com).
opposing H.R. 4447 said the bill would lead to higher energy costs “by setting rigid energy savings and water consumption reduction targets for Federal agencies, requiring State and local governments to establish strict building codes that are not grounded in available technologies, and mandating a rigorous transition from hydrofluorocarbon use in the private heating and cooling sector.” For more information, contact Mallika Vastare at 800368-5242 x8570.
2600 Gateway Ave, Ste 1 Bismarck, ND 58503