Industry News

• Pending Home Sales Contracts Rise for 8th Straight Month
  The number of signed sales contracts to buy homes rose in September for the eighth straight month, according to a recently released real estate industry report. Here's a look at the current numbers.
• Social Networking for Connecting Pros and Consumers
  Find out how those in the real estate business – from remodelers to Realtors – have been using social networking tools in order to communicate with their peers and prospects.
• ICC Votes to Keep Residential Fire Sprinklers
  In spite of intense push-back by the National Association of Home Builders, the International Code Council's (ICC) Residential Building Code Committee has voted to keep the residential fire sprinkler system requirement for one- and two-family new construction homes.
• How Fireplaces Add a Cozy Touch to New Homes
  The residential fireplace is a vestige, no longer needed to heat the home or house a kettle of soup. But here’s a look at the reason why new-home buyers continue to demand, and pay extra for their fireplaces.
• 55-Plus Poised to Drive the Home Building Market
  In the Rochester, N.Y. housing market, they are taking note of the “Silver tsunami” surge of buyers that are expected to dominate the housing market. Find out what the surveys say that baby boomers will be looking for when it comes to their home for the golden years. It’s a trend that could be coming soon to a housing market near you.
• Home Builder Goes Carbon Neutral
  Hamptons Luxury Homes reports that it has been able to offset 100% of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the company and all of its subsidiaries. Find out how they did it, and how they were able to even figure out how they did it.
• How Some Have Benefitted from the Stimulus Package
  We recently reached the 250th day since passage of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act – that $787 billion economic-stimulus package we’ve all been hearing so much about. While there may have been no fanfare to mark the 250-day milestone, some who have benefited from the program have reason to celebrate.
• Forecast Says Home Prices Have Not Bottomed
  If you thought home prices were bottoming out, you may be wrong. They're expected to get a lot more “affordable.” Home values are predicted to plunge in 342 out of 381 markets during the next year, according to a new forecast of real estate prices. Here’s the reasoning.
• Foreclosures, Unemployment Expected to Peak Next Year
  Foreclosures will peak by the end of next year and unemployment will climb above 10 percent as the housing market and U.S. economy grapple with the aftermath of the recession, the Mortgage Bankers Association's chief economist reports.
• Interior Design Realities for Lean Budgets
  It's a new world out there for interior designers. As the recession continues to paint a bleak landscape in most retail segments, homeowners are spending less on luxury items. For designers, that means smaller projects, but not necessarily less business.
• Bonus Rooms Give Buyers Chance to Flex Creativity
  In this article, three Chicago-area home builders describe how they carve out extra flex space in their floor plans in order to build in flexibility for their prospective buyers.
• Stark Realities of Chinese Drywall Liability Set In
  Chinese drywall manufacturers have more or less ignored litigation thrown at them in the U.S., and here's how consumers, home builders and government representatives are reacting. 
• Recession Chips Away at Granite Kitchen Tops
  Not long ago, it was a home-improvement rule seemingly set in stone: a new or upgraded kitchen had to have granite countertops. Now, 21 months into this recession, granite countertops seem to be relics of a fizzled-out housing boom. Here’s the reason why, and a look at what consumers are starting to choose instead.
• Return to Housing Peak 10 Years Away
  Moody's Investors Service threw cold water on optimistic projections of a V-shaped recovery in the battered U.S. housing market, predicting it could take more than 10 years to get back to boom-level prices. Find out why.
• Landscape Architects Create New Sustainability Resource Guides
  The American Society of Landscape Architects has launched a new series of comprehensive online resource guides on sustainable design and planning. The guides include hundreds of project case studies, research papers, organizations and other government resources on sustainable design aggregated for the first time. Find out more about it here.

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