Table of Contents August 2007

FEATURES

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  Safe Haven

  When Brookfield Homes first laid the groundwork for Mystic Point, a suburban village of 252 attached homes just around the bend from the acclaimed white sand beaches of Carlsbad, Calif., the plan was to target small, first-time buyer families. But when 23 percent of the homes were snapped up by...

   
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  Room to Breathe

  WHEN BELLEVUE, WASH.–BASED Bennett Homes acquired the parcel that was to become the Harmony Collection at Dahlia Park, an enclave of 60 homes in the master planned community of Issaquah Highlands, the builder was intent on outfitting each residence with a strong connection to the outdoors. No...

   
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  What (Single) Women Want

  Single women now represent 22 percent of home buyers, up 14 percent from a decade ago, according to the National Association of Realtors. So what exactly do they seek in a home?

   

• Rising foreclosures suggest that many of those approvals were big mistakes.

  When 1,300 members of the NAHB made their annual trek to Capitol Hill on June 6, they checked their usual swagger—which came from representing what once was the country's primary growth engine—at the door. That engine was sputtering and could seize up entirely if foreclosures kept mounting. So the...

   
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  Bruised by the downturn, builders turn to the fundamentals of the construction game.

  For builders, the current market conditions are no game and the stakes are nothing less than survival. You can't afford to drop the ball because there just aren't that many opportunities right now to put points on the board. That's why it's critical to master the fundamentals of the business:...

   

EDITOR'S NOTE

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  Reading the Tea Leaves

  Looking back at news reports on the housing industry over the course of the last year, patterns emerge that were difficult to discern while in the thick of things. After talking about soft landings for quite a while, this time last year analysts were starting to admit that a harder landing was...

   

INSIDE STORY

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  Home-improvement dealer develops communities around its stores.

  MENARDS, THE THIRD-LARGEST HOME improvement retailer in the United States, is more than 75 percent through the build-out of 164 single-family homes in a subdivision it is developing in Yorktown, Ill. The Eau Claire, Wis.–based dealer has received approval for phase two of this development, which...

   
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  A luxury developer is placing its bet on horses.

  Move over, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. The names that have lent bragging rights to many an upscale golf community are about to see some stiff competition. In March, Lake City, Fla.–based developer Bradley Dicks broke ground on The Oaks, a 1,222-acre parcel slated to become the world's first...

   
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  What Downturn?

  It was a busy spring for John Laing Homes, which—under the auspices of its deep-pocketed parent, Dubai-based Emaar Properties—entered two new markets. Laing is now in Phoenix as a startup and Houston through the acquisition of Lindenwood Homes. These expansions put the Newport Beach, Calif.–based...

   

SUCCESS STORIES

• Single-family detached products find favor with university students.

  When you live and work in College Station, Texas, it's pretty hard to ignore the teeming number of Texas A&M students who make this college town—and its neighbor, Bryan Station—their home. After all, there are more than 45,000 Aggies attending A&M. Unfortunately, the university only has room for 10...

   

TOP SHELF

• Top Shelf Products

  This month's top shelf products include the heavy-duty Contractor Series Fold-A-Cart from Fold-A-Tools, the Professional Ladder Utility System from Creative Sales, and the energy-efficient APEX Block.

   

HOUSECALL

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  Waste-Pipe Trade-offs

  My town has recently started allowing plastic waste-pipe instead of cast iron in residential construction, and a lot of my competitors are making the switch. What are the big differences between the two kinds of pipe?

   

MARKET SMARTS

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  Oak Leaf Homes is co-branding with Pottery Barn at The Villages at Rivers Bend.

  It's a sign of the times: builders leveraging high-end, highly recognized retailers to boost their marketing efforts and cast a wider net for sales traffic and buyers. But it's not as easy as simply slapping a logo on a print ad or Web site. Just ask Maureen McDermott, sales and marketing director...

   
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  Renaissance Homes' Smart Car promotion drove traffic and reduced standing inventory.

  New marketing and sales techniques with proven results.

   

THE NUMBERS

• Mounting foreclosures are exacerbating inventory oversupply issues and pushing house prices down.

  While foreclosures were down 7 percent from May to June, they were up 87 percent in June of this year compared to June 2006, according to RealtyTrac, an online service that tracks foreclosure activity and acts as a marketplace for foreclosed properties.

   

PRODUCTS

• Green floors help you do good and look good

  These days, status quo options are no longer good enough to impress buyers. If you really want to get their attention, you have to step it up. And offering your buyers cool, sustainable flooring is one way to do it.

   

• Lithium-ion gives cordless tools the edge

  Once upon a time, power tools came with a cord and life was good. Then came cordless, and life got better. Today, as more manufacturers adopt and perfect lithium-ion battery technology, tool users can be downright giddy at the prospects.

   

TECH TOOLS

• Tech Tools

  - Mark Systems and QlikTech offers users an Executive Dashboard—a system that gives builder owners a fast snapshot of their business. - BuilderMT's Trade Portal to home builders continues to grow in popularity.

   

• Constellation's plan to revive BuildSoft is on a slow-but-steady course.

  DANIEL ZINMAN, GENERAL manager for Markham, Ontario–based Constellation HomeBuilder Systems' new BuildSoft group, is quite aware of what he's up against in reviving the old guard software brand.

   
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  IT systems offer home buyers the information they need at the point of sale.

  - IT systems offer home buyers the information they need at the point of sale. - Constellation's plan to revive BuildSoft is on a slow-but-steady course. - Mark Systems and QlikTech offers users an Executive Dashboard—a system that gives builder owners a fast snapshot of their business.

   

NATIONAL BEAT

• An independent research program is analyzing guardrail safety involving young children.

  THE NAHB RESEARCH Center and the National Ornamental & Miscellaneous Metals Association (NOMMA) are partnering to conduct an independent study on guardrail safety in relation to young children. In contrast to past industry studies focused on jobsite fall protection, this study's goal is to analyze...

   

• The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the NAHB in a dispute over handing Clean Water Act permitting authority over to states.

  The NAHB's first venture before the U.S. Supreme Court as a named party resulted in a great victory for members earlier this summer. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled in favor of our position that the EPA did not need to consider listed endangered species when handing Clean Water Act permitting...

   

• NAHB Briefs

  - Online registration is now open for the 2008 International Builders' Show. - The NAHB urges lawmakers not to abandon efforts to overhaul the nation's immigration laws. - The NAHB produces two new products to increase jobsite safety and reduce the chance of job-related accidents.

   

HOTSELLERS

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  Winnick Homes at Knightsbridge Gate, Novi, Mich.

  WHY IT WORKED: Even in uncertain markets, homes that are well-located, well-designed, and well-priced continue to sell. At Knightsbridge Gate, Winnick Homes came up with plans that work well on smaller lots, which allowed the builder to charge less than the going rate for new construction.

   
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  Providence Island at Queen's Harbour, Jacksonville, Fla.

  WHY IT WORKED: Attractive, no-maintenance townhomes, plenty of storage, and access to the Intracoastal Waterway for yachts up to 100 feet—what could be better for an active downsizer?

   
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  Scripps Preserve at The Estates at StoneBridge, San Diego

  WHY IT WORKED: These semi-rural estate homes, located in an established community that borders one of the region's largest open-space preserves, have been especially popular with move-up buyers. They like having more square footage and a bigger yard without having to leave a quality school district.

   

WALKTHROUGH

• Georgetown, Colo.

  Breaking free from their mining party in Central City, Colo., miners George and David Griffith set out to find gold. Within two days, on June 17, 1859, the pair spotted a glimmer in Clear Creek on the site of what is now Georgetown. The town was officially recognized by the territorial legislature...

   

SEIDERS' ECONOMY

• The bottom of the housing cycle is not yet in view.

  THE DRAMATIC DOWNWARD CORRECTION IN U.S. housing markets has been underway for roughly two years. In this regard, the NAHB's single-family Housing Market Index (HMI) hit a current-cycle low of 28 in June, down from a high of 72 in mid-2005. The HMI was down by more than 50 percent in all four...

   

OTHER ARTICLES

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  Avoid Penalities

  IF YOU WANT TO WIN THE game of repeat and referral business, there is no question that it is won and lost on warranty service. Customer satisfaction hinges heavily on response time to warranty service calls and whether the repair corrected the problem. But builders that truly are committed to...

   

• McStain puts new homes in old neighborhoods—one by one.

  MCSTAIN NEIGHBORHOODS' COMMITMENT to sustainability has long been evident in large-scale redevelopment projects such as Stapleton and Lowry, and, more recently, in its introduction of solar homes to TNDs in and around Denver.

   

• A controversial lawsuit over land-use plans.

  THE CALIFORNIA BUILDING Industry Association (CBIA) held a private meeting in May with state Attorney General Jerry Brown to discuss its concerns about a lawsuit filed by his office, which seeks to require San Bernardino County to rewrite its land-use plan to take into consideration the impact of...

   

• HUD's first concept home.

  HUD IS HOPING THAT THE ENERGY-efficient concept home it built in Omaha, Neb., will be a blueprint for the future of American housing.

   

• A Florida real estate firm offers builders a way to get assets off their books.

  THE AWARD FOR “MOST CHUTZPAH DURING the housing downturn” could go to The Cypress Co., a St. Petersburg, Fla.–based real estate company that is offering to purchase land lots and unsold homes for 50 cents on the dollar.

   

• Null

  Home Depot to reassess how to capture more business from pro customers; the housing industry loses two highly respected analysts; and Florida remains the top location for retirees.

   
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  Down-Payment Woes

  In yet another tightening of mortgage lending, HUD has proposed the elimination of seller-funded down-payment assistance programs for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

   

• American Home Mortgage Lays Off Majority of Staff

  American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. announced Thursday night that, in light of the liquidity issues occurring in the secondary mortgage market, the company will significantly reduce its operating structure by laying off 6,250 employees (reducing the company base to 750) on Friday. In addition...