May 2020 Building Connections Magazine

T H E E - M A G A Z I N E O F T H E H B R A O F FA I R F I E L D C O U N T Y - M AY 2 0 2 0

UPCOMING

HBRA Golf Outing Save the Date

FEATURES Member News COVID-19 Resources Latest Updates

MEMBER BENEFITS mynpp.com NAHB Benefits

Your Monthly Newsletter Building Connections is a monthly digital magazine produced and published by the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Fairfield County. Inside you will find the latest association news, legislative updates, upcoming events, and featured articles about the industry.

Contact Us:

hbra@buildfairfieldcounty.com www.buildfairfieldcounty.com @hbraffc (203) 335-7008

On the Cover

DeRosa Builders Anthony & Michael DeRosa http://derosabuilders.com/

2020 OFFICERS President Anthony DeRosa DeRosa Builders

Sr. Vice-President Kim DiMatteo DiMatteo Insurance

Vice President John Hertz

Hertz Construction

Secretary Rob Michaud

The Michaud Group

Immediate Past President Chris Steiner Steiner, Inc.

2020 DIRECTORS Propane Pete Battaglio Hocon Gas

Max Bender Bender Supply

Steve Berko

Four Square Build & Design

Michael Church Ken DeLeo

Doherty & DeLeo

Brian Kurtz

Interstate Lumber

Steve LoParco

LoParco Associates, Inc.

Steven Roth

Elevator Service Company

Alex Shook

Pella Commercial

Michael Wood Wood Builders

LIFE DIRECTORS Joanne Carroll JMC Resources

Michael Palumbo ERI Building & Design

Jerry Effren The Greyrock Companies

Peter Gaboriault Bear Paw Builders

Gary Fanali City Carting

Terrence Beaty William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty

Peter Fusaro Preferred Builders

L ET T ER F ROM TH E H BRA EXECUTIVE OF FICER

Dear Members, I hope everyone is staying healthy.

As Connecticut is slowly reopening and we are understanding our new normal, I sincerely believe that our industry will bounce back better than ever.

The HBRA will continue to send out any pertinent information as it becomes available, and soon enough we will be able to gather as we once did. We are still planning events for the fall-please stay tuned for updates. We have decided to move our annual golf tournament to October 19-please mark your calendars. I look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Be sure to keep our online membership directory in mind whenever you are looking for a business: www.buildfairfieldcounty.com/ directory Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can do anything for you or your business - kerry@buildfairfieldcounty.com Kind Regards, Kerry Brunn

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L ET T ER F RO M TH E H BRA PRESIDEN T

Dear Members, I hope this letter finds everyone healthy and safe.

The better weather and slowing of the curve have certainly brought some optimism into our world. An increase of home sales, home rentals and clients looking to improve on their current properties.

Certainly, things have changed and perhaps the silver lining will be an increase in work in the coming years. I remain optimistic.

As we continue working and begin to open up full time again let’s make sure we as business owners and employees within our trades keep health and safety on the forefront. We all can do our part to keep the virus at bay and keep our clients and employees safe.

We are very eager to reopen our General Membership meetings once we get the green light. I am excited to see all of you again. The board has truly been working nonstop to inform and gather the best information we can provide. I wanted to personally thank them all along with Kerry and Sarah for their hard work throughout the last few challenging months.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!

Anthony B. DeRosa

The HBRA is partnering with some of our 2020 VIP Partners and hosting a food drive to benefit local Connecticut Food Banks from May 20 - June 15. Members have offered various locations as drop sites for all goods. Please see below for more information. If you have any questions or you cannot make it to one of these locations please email Kerry at kerry@buildfairfieldcounty.com Locations: County TV 2770 Summer Street, Stamford, CT 06905 HBRA Offices (Lobby) 2228 Black Rock Turnpike, Fairfield, CT 06825 Pella-Monroe 220 Monroe Turnpike, Monroe, CT 06468 Interstate-Greenwich 184 South Water Street, Greenwich, CT 06830 Ring's End-Darien 181 West Avenue, Darien, CT 06820

SAVE THE DATE October 19, 2020 Tashua Knolls Golf Course

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H BRA N EWS

RESTAURANT RECOVERY Invited by NYCxDesign to discuss the future of the food industry for fellow designers, Founding Principal Nancy Thiel provides some feedback and inspiration.

What does the future of the restaurant industry look like?

Idea House Build: Future Farmhouse | Farmhouse in Fairfield (E1) One of the recent Idea House Episodes features HBRA member Greyrock Homes. See the details below In this episode: On the coast of the Long Island Sound, the Fairfield County Farmhouse is underway. Chris talks with the builder, Jerry, about the materials he chose for framing, and how he plans to take advantage of this modern farmhouse’s amazing view.

Products/Resources: Weyerhaeuser Huber Engineered Woods Read More

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“Post-coronavirus, the restaurant paradigm is definitely in for a shift. Customers want to feel safe at the same time they want to return to the lively social scene they know and love.

That means, for starters, the future is outside.

Restaurants should consider moving their hostess stand outside and adding a counter shield for social separation.

What does this do? It helps reduce the distance between the hostess and the customer and it’s a way to demonstrate your concern for everyone’s health and safety. That’s step one.”

Read More

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HAVE YOU SEEN OUR COVID RESOURCES PAGE?

Visit https://buildfairfieldcounty.com/covid-19-local-and-national-updates/ for the latest news - Do you have canned, non perishable items to donate? We are hosting a food drive for local Connecticut food banks at various locations in Fairfield County. Contact Kerry at kerry@ buildfairfieldcounty.com with any questions.

- Do you have masks, gloves, gowns or other PPE equipment to donate to area hospitals in desperate need? Contact Kerry at kerry@buildfairfieldcounty.com for pickup.

- Do you have news about your business that you would like to share with the HBRA membership?

Email design@buildfairfieldcounty.com to coordinate an instagram story or a newsletter feature..

MAY 2020 | HBRA of Fairfield County 13

N AH B N EWS

Demand for Home Offices, Exercise Rooms Could Grow in Wake of Pandemic A recent Eye on Housing blog post examines how lockdown orders implemented across the United States to fight the spread of the coronavirus have given rise to more people working from home and engaging in other activities indoors that they would normally do in public spaces. With the major shift in where people spend their time, it is important to examine the data currently available on home buyers’ preferences for home offices and exercise rooms, as demand for these specialty rooms may grow.

NAHB’s consumer preference study, What Home Buyers Really Want, surveys recent and prospective home buyers about the features they want in a home and community. The most recent survey, conducted in 2018, shows that a majority of home buyers — 65% — want a home office. This share has remained fairly stable in the 60-plus percent range since 2007 (Figure 1).

Read More

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What Businesses Need to Know about Workers’ Comp and COVID-19 Is COVID-19 compensable under workers’ compensation laws?

The answer to that question isn’t a simple yes or no. It depends on your state’s workers’ compensation laws.

There is guidance available from other organizations and states that have addressed this issue: Read More

N AH B N EWS

Builder Credit Tightens on Virus Concerns For the first time since 2012, builders and developers reported overall tighter credit conditions on loans for land acquisition, development and single-family construction (AD&C) in NAHB’s AD&C financing survey for the first quarter of 2020. Most builders reported that lenders are pulling back because of coronavirus concerns.

The net tightening index derived from the NAHB survey jumped to 22.7, about 40 points higher than the -22.3 reported in the fourth quarter of 2019. The index is constructed so that positive numbers indicate tightening of credit, with larger positive numbers indicating more widespread tightening.

A similar index from the Federal Reserve’s survey of senior loan officers also showed a spike in tightening. The Fed index jumped to 52.4 in the first quarter of 2020, 45 points higher than the 7.4 reported in the fourth quarter of 2019 and the highest it’s been since 2009.

Read More

Surviving a Downturn: Now is the Time to Take Action In the business world, knowing when to take action can be the difference between your company’s continual growth or eventual decay. Timing is everything.

The coronavirus pandemic has created significant challenges and uncertainty for many, particularly those in the housing industry.

While these challenges are substantial, now is not the time to simply stand idle and hope your business is lucky enough to survive.

Read More

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N AH B N EWS

Economic Hopes & Concerns

Building Material Prices Post Record Monthly Decline in April

In the wake of declining new confirmed virus cases, many states are moving to phased reopenings of local economies. This is a key moment to prove that economic activity can occur while also limiting the spread of the virus through less intense mitigation efforts. The country faces a public health and economic crisis, and the economic Prices paid for goods used in challenge can only be engaged by allowing businesses to operate residential construction decreased again.

4.1% in April (not seasonally A sign of the ongoing economic crisis came in the form of three adjusted) — the largest monthly million more jobless claims this week, pushing the eight-week total decline on record — according to to a staggering 36.5 million job losses. However, continuing claims the latest Producer Price Index stabilized at just under 23 million, indicating a slowdown in the (PPI) report released by the Bureau growth of unemployment. The May jobless rate will be at least 15%. of Labor Statistics. The year-todate decline (-5.4%) in residential Recent stock market gains reveal a sharp difference between Wall construction inputs prices is more Street and Main Street in terms of ongoing economic prospects. than three times larger than the While stock prices have staged a generally encouraging rebound, previous record (-1.3% in 2009). retail sales in April were down 16%, more than the 12% consensus forecast.

Read More Read More

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N AH B N EWS

Builder Confidence Posts Solid Gain Following Last Month’s Historic Drop In a signal that the housing market is showing signs of stabilizing and gradually moving forward in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, builder confidence in the market for newly-built singlefamily homes increased seven points to 37 in May, according to the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. The rise in builder sentiment follows the largest single monthly decline in the history of the index in April.

Broad Declines for Home Construction in April

Reflecting the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, total housing starts decreased 30.2% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 891,000 units, according to a report from the U.S. Housing and “The fact that most states classified housing as an essential business Urban Development and Commerce during this crisis helped to keep many residential construction Department. workers on the job, and this is reflected in our latest builder survey,” The April reading of 891,000 starts said NAHB Chairman Dean Mon. “At the same time, builders are is the number of housing units showing flexibility in this new business environment by making builders would begin if they kept sure buyers have the knowledge and access to the homes they are this pace for the next 12 months. seeking through innovative measures such as social media, virtual Within this overall number, singletours and online closings.” family starts decreased 25.4% to a Read More

650,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate.

Read More

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COVID IN SIGH TS

Mortgage Assistance and Financial Relief The economic impact of this unprecedented situation is causing many families and individuals to be concerned about their ability to remain in their homes. The Department of Housing and Urban Development on March 18 announced that it would suspend foreclosures and evictions for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration through the end of April.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also said that they would suspend all foreclosures and evictions for at least 60 days for home owners with mortgages backed by the two government-sponsored enterprises. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also announced they would allow borrowers impacted by the coronavirus to suspend mortgage payments for up to 12 months.

General Government Resources CFPB: A Guide to COVID-19 Economic Stimulus Relief CDC: Guidelines for Your Home and Family HUD: Coronavirus Resources and Information FHFA: Coronavirus Assistance Information Read More

Read More

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MAYEd 2020 | HBRA of Fairfield County 21 Have a sales question? Email at ed.schultek@sandler.com.

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