N EWS BRI EFS

The leueling ot' the h,ousing boom continued as housing starts had their second consecutioe monthly decline; July was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2,181,000 units, down from the earlier rate this spring of around 2.6 million . .

Despite the recent tapering off, the consensus among experts is t'or the present leael to contirute well into 1973 .. anything over 2 million is"still a aery good f,gLr,re," notes economist Michael Sumichrast of the home builders assn.; as recentLy as 1970, the annual rate was as low as 1.1 million. .

An Advance Mortgage Corp. survey t'ound 70/o of the record starts in the f,rst half taere in th.e South and West, with Denuer and Phoenix particularly hot markets for new homes . in Calif., starts for the first half of '72 were almost identical with the same period last year, 133,907 to133,235...

Despite the recent rise of the prime rate to 57/z%, many bankers and economists see a 6/c price by the end of '72; it hasn't been at \Yz% since last Nov. when it was falling from a '69 peak of Ba/z% on its way down n Ae/a/o last Jan. . new single family home construction last year hit 822 billion, rernodeling expenditures uere #16 billion and are expected to be appreciably higher next year . .

Ceor gia-P acif,c, which recently spun-off about 2O/o o{ its earning capacity to form Louisiana-Pacific, expects the new corp. to be ofi and running by Nov.

The House Banking and Currency Committee is currently investigating softwood lumber and plywood prices; their report is due in Nov. . .

Ward & Harrington, at each of its 7 So. Calif. home improvement yards, has set all-tim,e highs for consurner sales, according to W&H's Bill Bellmore .. . the kitchen cabinet & vanity market is expected to grou by more than 8100 million in '72, according to the National Kitchen Cabinet Assn.

Mobile home industry groups haae been screaming bloody murder since recent statements by California state officials that their surveys disclosed that 94/o of the mobile hornes in lactories ond sales lots f ailed to meet state requiremen s; most often cited: faulty wiring, obstructed heat flues and roofing nails lB" rather than 12" apart.

Ernst-Malmo, the Seattle-based home improvement div. of Pay'N Soue, projects a $32 mil. lion volume for'72, up lrorn $3 million in 1960 . Sierra Pacif,c's nen retail djz., which recently opened a home improvement center in Proao, Utah, plans one in Sacrarnenlo in Oct., and one each in Reno and Sah Lake City in Dec. Angels has picked up its llth bld.g. supply center, the former Glick Bros. in Whittier; they are remodeling and enlarging it.

Timberline Lumber Products, Seattle, has been hit by a yard fire, cause unknown . $21,000 damage was the result of a blaze at the Moar Lurnber Co., Pofi.land . . . a saaings of 8300,000 was cLaimed'as a result ol containing a fre in a pile of cedar bark at Sierra Forest Products's Terra Bella, Calif., plant .

Colorado Builders Supply has purchased 5 acres for a new 35,000 sq. ft. Denver warehouse to be built later this year .Building Supply Discount Center,Portland, has been charged by the feds with {ailure to pay time and one-half and keep adequate records . Western Sierra Home Center, the AFP retail subsidiary in Pleasanton, Calif., is festooned with " going out of business" sr8ns .

Builder's Block of Oceanside, Calif ., has broken ground for c new $l million, 24,000 sq. ft. store in nearby Vista to be named the Happy Hammer; it's set to open in Feb. Cearhart Lum,ber, Cearhart, Ore., has opened for business, grand opening sked for a later date

Herr Lumber, Renton, Wash., recently grand opened their newlyremodeled Skyway store

Richmond Lumber, Highland Park, Calif., recently wrapped up their 42nd, anniaersary sale . Wm. Dineen has joined H & M Wholesak Lurnber as controller at their new 5 acre Etiwand.a, Calif., plant the Chicago Board of Trade is planning to start futures trading in lumberstuds sometime next month.

Weyerhaeuser plans to bry Celanese's loss-ridden Vancouver, B.C., subsidiary for about $50-$60 million, the "stated net asset Dane" . . OSHA has proposed an amendrnent to its safety standards to reduce record,keeping and reporting requirements for firrns with less ilzan I em.ployees .

Sun Lumber Co., L.A., is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Natiorual Building Centers, which in turn is a wholly-owned subsid. iary of Lone Star Industries, Greenwich, Conn.; sale price was not disclosed no personnel changes are planned and sorne expansion is "quite possible," ac. cording to Sun's Homer Burnaby.