The YIMBY movement is definitely on to something: In many parts of the world it is too difficult to build new housing. The result is that lower-income individuals are priced out of some of the world’s most productive cities, such as San Francisco and London, because of exorbitant rents.
Sentiment among U.S. homebuilders crept higher in July after falling the previous month, indicating lower mortgage rates are helping shore up demand.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose one point to 65 this month, according to a report Tuesday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey projected the gauge would hold at 64.
Fifth Wall employed an unusual strategy to raise its second venture fund: It got rival real estate companies to pool resources to invest in property-technology startups.
Los Angeles-based Fifth Wall said Wednesday that it closed the $503 million fund by bringing together mall owners, hotel companies and office developers. Four major U.S. homebuilders invested in the fund -- D.R. Horton Inc., Lennar Corp., PulteGroup Inc. and Toll Brothers Inc. -- as well as competing brokerages CBRE Group Inc. and Cushman & Wakefield Plc.
The U.S. housing shortage has the attention of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Homebuilders are being held back by a “series of factors,” including higher materials costs, a skilled-labor shortage and President Donald Trump’s immigration and tariffs policies, Powell said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday.
The opposition Labour Party took aim at one of the U.K.’s most controversial land-ownership rules, proposing to end a system that can leave some homeowners paying rent each year on the ground beneath their buildings.
So-called leaseholders, who own a house or flat but not the plot underneath, would have the right to buy that land for no more than 1% of the property’s value under Labour’s plan. The “ground rent” they pay each year to owners of the land beneath their buildings would also be capped, and the sale of new private leasehold homes would be stopped.
Lennar Corp., the first big U.S. homebuilder out of the gate this earnings cycle, reported quarterly orders that beat expectations. a sign that low mortgage rates are fueling demand. The shares rose.
In the three months through May, home-purchase contracts rose 1% from a year earlier to 14,518 homes, the Miami-based company said in a statement Tuesday.
Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rebounded in May to a three-month high as all regions gained amid lower interest rates and a labor market that remains strong.
Contract closings rose to 5.34 million annual rate, topping projections and climbing 2.5% from April’s upwardly revised pace, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. The median sales price rose 4.8% from a year earlier to $277,700.
U.S. new-home construction fell in May after an April reading that was stronger than initially reported, signaling stabilization in the market amid lower borrowing costs.
Residential starts dropped 0.9% to a 1.27 million annualized rate after a revised 1.28 million pace in the prior month, according to government figures released Tuesday that compared with a 1.24 million estimate in Bloomberg’s survey. Permits, a proxy for future construction, increased 0.3% to a 1.29 million rate that was about in line with estimates.
A friendly reminder from the folks at the CSLB . . .
June 24, 2019 CSLB #19-05
Public Works Contractors: Renew Your Registration Online by End of This Month
Contractors can now register for one, two, or three fiscal years
The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) and the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) are informing public works contractors that their registration will expire on June 30. The public works contractor registration application was recently updated to process applications within one business day when paid by credit card, and provide the applicant with a credit card receipt.
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@wendel.com
For years, Samsung has pitched customers internet-connected TVs, refrigerators, and other cornerstones of the home re-imagined for the data-overload era. Now the South Korean engineering-to-gadgets conglomerate is trying to go a step further: making the home itself.
Inside an airy, lavish model house in Seoul, Samsung’s virtual assistant, Bixby, can show visitors what’s inside the kitchen fridge while Amazon’s Alexa assistant controls the living-room lighting and A/C, and a speaker developed by Naver Corp. recommends music and TV shows. Samsung software overlays the in-house and competing products to create a unified control system, and so the company might someday be able to analyze the data created to refine its so-called internet of things.
Breezy Point is beautiful in the summertime, a quaint neighborhood sitting on a slim peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic just south of New York City.
In a storm, though, that dreamy setting can become a nightmare.
It took less than a month to sell half the units in a Sao Paulo luxury apartment building earlier this year, even though construction won’t be complete until 2022. And one brokerage that specializes in high-end real estate saw its revenue double in the first four months of this year.
The luxury residential-property market in Brazil’s biggest city is booming with demand from rich Brazilians, fed up with the toll record low interest rates are taking on their portfolios. Gone are the days of double-digit returns on simple treasury securities, so many of the rich are trying to capitalize on soaring prices in the high-end real estate market.
Sentiment among U.S. homebuilders increased in May by more than expected, sustaining this year’s upward swing on stronger sales and lower mortgage rates.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose to 66, the highest level since October as all three main measures increased, according to a report Wednesday. Readings above 50 indicate more builders view conditions as good than poor.
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U.S. new-home construction rose for a second month and topped estimates in April in a sign of positive momentum for the housing sector at the start of the second quarter.
Residential starts increased 5.7% to a 1.24 million annualized rate after a 1.7% gain in March that was previously reported as a drop, according to government figures released Thursday. Permits, a proxy for future construction, advanced 0.6% to a 1.30 million rate.
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The International Living Future Institute, steward of the world’s most demanding sustainable-building program, is no longer satisfied with its boutique status as a third-party certifier of super-green buildings. ILFI, on a course to scale up the number of participants and scale down the rigors of its Living Building Challenge, recently introduced a less rigorous option for LBC certification, called Core Green Building Certification.
Ms. Post may be contacted at postn@enr.com
After three New York City construction workers died on the job within six days, officials are demanding stronger safety measures and promising punitive action against those responsible.
Ms. Cubarrubia may be contacted at cubarrubiae@enr.com
Strata is located in the popular East Village neighborhood of San Diego. The apartment complex consists of two connected towers built over one large below grade parking structure. One tower stands at six stories tall, the other reaches 23 stories.
Strata was constructed multiple stories below the water table in extreme close proximity to a former gas station and dry cleaners, according to Michael Hyduk of Specified Products, Inc., - and product representative for EPRO Services, Inc, who are developers of redundant, field-installed composite systems for below waterproofing and contaminant barrier solutions.
ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com
Strata is located in the popular East Village neighborhood of San Diego. The apartment complex consists of two connected towers built over one large below grade parking structure. One tower stands at six stories tall, the other reaches 23 stories.
Strata was constructed multiple stories below the water table in extreme close proximity to a former gas station and dry cleaners, according to Michael Hyduk of Specified Products, Inc., - and product representative for EPRO Services, Inc, who are developers of redundant, field-installed composite systems for below waterproofing and contaminant barrier solutions.
ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com
Located in the aptly-named Paradise Valley, AZ, the Ritz-Carlton residences is set to combine a luxury hotel with high-end living. The project encompasses 200-room Ritz-Carlton resort that will be surrounded by 91 single-level villas and 45 single-family homes. The hotel will also be home to the longest pool in North America, spanning 400 feet, and a 30,000 square-foot spa featuring indoor and outdoor treatment areas. Guests will also be able to take advantage of a state-of-the-art health and fitness center, indoor and outdoor meeting and event space, a citrus orchard, a garden that will have seasonal produce harvested by on-site restaurants, walking paths and a grand lawn.
ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com
For homebuilders, financing a real estate transaction, oftentimes via an institutional lender, is common place in the industry. But what is land banking and why should it be considered by homebuilders?
Land banking is an off-balance sheet financing structure whereby the land banker purchases fee title to the homebuilder’s desired lots – instead of the homebuilder. Simultaneously, the homebuilder enters into an option agreement with the land banker wherein the homebuilder obtains an option to purchase the desired lots from the land banker. Such option is generally secured by a non-refundable option fee paid by the homebuilder to the land banker.
Ms. Munsell may be contacted at lmunsell@swlaw.com
I had the pleasure of interviewing architect Angela Spadoni, the director of residential architecture at Skender. On this podcast episode, we discuss how the company is taking the industry forward with modular construction.
Skender is one of Fast Company’s “World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2019”. Last year, the Chicago-based construction, design and manufacturing firm launched Skender Manufacturing to produce modular apartment units. We discuss the company’s new, vertically integrated business model, what makes it stand out, and the value it will provide to stakeholders.
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi
Homebuilder stocks may be poised to keep rallying, with investor optimism about lower interest rates likely priming them to overlook any possible disappointments in KB Home and Lennar Corp. earnings, JPMorgan’s Michael Rehaut wrote in a note.
A lower 10-year Treasury yield “heals all wounds,” Rehaut said.
Falling mortgage rates are giving a lift to U.S. homebuilders just in time for the key spring selling season.
Lennar Corp. on Wednesday reported a jump in home orders that beat the company’s own projections. While KB Home had a slight drop in orders, they were also better than expected. Both companies expressed optimism that demand would strengthen in the coming months.
Sentiment among U.S. homebuilders climbed to a six-month high in April, another indication that the housing market is gathering momentum during the crucial spring season.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose 1 point to 63, matching the median estimate in Bloomberg’s survey of economists, on improvements in present sales and buyer traffic, data released Tuesday showed. Readings over 50 indicate more builders view conditions as good than poor.
Andrew Witik of Christensen Hsu Sipes discusses the current trends in state courts’ interpretation of the defined term “occurrence” in a CGL policy.
John Yang of the PBS News Hour reports and joins Judy Woodruff from Nassau with an update on a disaster whose scope of destruction is still coming into focus.
ABC News In-depth Four Corners investigates Australia's apartment building crisis -- from shoddy workmanship to lax laws.
Kirsten Dirksen showcases how Tilemachos Andrianopoulos elevated a concrete prism freeing up the space below for indoor/outdoor living and dining rooms.
Edward Farrell of Cummins & White, LLP focuses on civil litigation in the areas of commercial and business disputes, real estate, construction law, and professional liability.
Minds Eyes Design explores 10 unusual but awesome tiny homes and vacation cabins.
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