May 8 2008 9:08AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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I missed my usual Multi-link Monday this week, but I did want to share some of the things that caught my eye lately:

• Calculated Risk takes a dismal look at the remodeling market, predicting that home investment will drop 15 to 20 percent before the worst is over. That's after the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported a 2 percent drop in home improvement spending in Q1 2008 from Q4 2007. CR's prediction is significantly gloomier than yesterday's NAHB projections that I wrote about here.
• On the other hand, a

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May 7 2008 1:16PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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Harvard remodeling guru Kermit Baker took a look at which markets are most and least vulnerable to a downturn in the remodeling market today as part of an NAHB teleconference on the remodeling market featuring Baker, NAHB chief economist David Seiders and NAHB Remodelers Chairman Lonny Rutherford.

The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies came up with the list by analyzing home prices and existing home sales. Those that had the biggest increase in prices and smallest decrease in sales were the strongest or least vulnerable to a downturn; those with the biggest decrease in prices and sales were the most vulnerable. No real surprises on either list, but here you go:

Most vulnerable to a downturn:

• Detroit
• Las Vegas
• Phoenix
• Almost everywhere in California and Florida

Least v...Read More

May 1 2008 1:25PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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At the NAHB board meetings this morning, NAHB staff gave a thorough presentation on the new lead paint regulations that were officially published last week. (You can get the details here from Mike Morris's blog when the rules were initially issued.)

Here's some key things you need to know:

• The law takes effect April 22, 2010
• It applies to all pre-1978 homes, but if there are no children under 6 in the home, the homeowner can sign a waiver excusing the remodeler from meeting the remediation standards.
• In order to work on these homes, the remodeler must have a certified lead paint specialist on staff.
• The new federal pamphlet on the law will be available in Jun

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Apr 30 2008 8:33PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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I'm in Washington, D.C., for the NAHB board meetings that start tomorrow, and I'll be posting later on any news out of those, but here's some other news from the capital.

In advance of the meetings, NAHB had its annual Legislative Action Day today where members go visit their local reps and senators to try to advance their agenda. Here's CNBC's coverage of the news, as well as some information that I hadn't heard before: that NAHB almost got themselves in trouble with the Justice Department earlier this year with the group's comments when it stopped political donations from its PAC.

You can read more here. 

Apr 29 2008 8:11AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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A recent survey from AOL/Zogby explores many parts of housing and has some bad news for the housing industry. 
 
Here are some notable results. I find the first three to be the most worrisome:

• 56 percent think home ownership is attainable for most people
• Only 56 percent think their home will be worth more or the same in five years (that's right -- 44 percent think it will be worth less)
• 50 percent of current homeowners would buy another house if they sold today (this is downright scary) 
• 31 percent think they're home is worth m

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