Metrics are all about the effectiveness of your processes. There are four key types of performance that we can focus on in this blog.
This can include focusing on for example just in time delivery, supplier and partner performance, product, service, results, steps, cycles, unit produced, units per employee/sales/invested capital, reduction in resources...
THE MARKET
Surely the most important issue facing everyone in the homebuilding industry, indeed every industry today is improving performance. Reducing costs and leveraging resources to improve profitability.
In fact an ASQ (American Society for Quality) survey (with 1000 respondents from around the world) shows a majority of manufacturers are optimistic about an economic uptick at their organizations. However, respondents believe further cost-cutting measures...
If there’s one housing sector that is poised for a strong recovery in the next 12 to 18 months, it’s the rental housing market, namely apartment buildings.
If you’re not evaluating the apartment sector, it may be worth consideration for your local markets because it appears that conventional funding sources may soon become more-readily available for these projects.
Case in point: A January poll of more than 200 commercial real-estate investors, lenders, brokers...
More good news this week for remodeling.
The market keeps growing, even while new construction continues to get battered. The latest is a report from BuildFax, which tracks monthly permit information and shows that remodeling activity increased in January for the 15th straight month and was up 22 percent over a year ago.
At the same time, NKBA members are...
On a snowy Washington morning last December, a group of us from Professional Builder had the privilege of spending a couple of hours with NAHB chief lobbyist Joe Stanton and key members of his staff. The purpose was to conduct an interview, which appeared in PB in February. Our aim was to simply get an update on upcoming issues facing builders. We had no...
By Jonathan Sweet, Editor in Chief
Posted 3/7/11
The battle to repeal the new 1099 requirements continues to move at a glacial pace.
(In case you missed it, you're going to have to start issuing a bunch more 1099s in 2012 if nothing changes. The requirement was included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed last year. You can read more in our...
By Jonathan Sweet, Editor in Chief
Posted 2/16/11
In a report sure to cause some controversy, real estate research firm CoreLogic says that the National Association of Realtors is overestimating existing home sales by 15 to 20 percent.
The firm says that NAR is not taking into account the higher share of sales going through...
One of the big barriers to a housing industry recovery is the perception that there are a large number of vacant homes out there that are going to flood the market any day now.
That perception may be wrong, though, according to respected housing economist Tom Lawler. Lawler analyzed some of the preliminary data being released from the 2010 Census and says the numbers don't jive with those the Census Bureau was releasing for 2009 vacancy estimates.
He posted his findings today...
A preview of our February issue:
I’ve just gotten back from the International Builders Show, the industry’s big show for all things residential.
I’ve been going to the show since 2000 and this was easily the smallest one yet. That’s the bad news. The good news is that it was also the most optimistic I’ve seen people at the show since the housing boom.
2009 was sort of the year of shell-shock — the realization that after the financial...
