ResiBuilt Homes was supposed to raise $250 million to develop single-family rental communities, but the deal was scuttled in March after the Covid-19 pandemic brought the U.S. economy to a halt.

Now, the Atlanta-based builder is out raising money again, and it’s seeking nearly five times the original amount. ResiBuilt is working with New York investment bank Whelan Advisory to raise $400 million in equity and $800 million in debt to build and manage rental houses as it looks to capitalize on demand for larger living spaces and investor appetite for ways to bet on the suburbs.

Mortgage rates have once again dipped below 3%.

The average for a 30-year fixed loan was 2.99%, just off the record low set two weeks ago, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday. Rates had ticked up to 3.01% last week.

New-home sales in the U.S. increased to an almost 13-year high in June, fueled by record-low borrowing costs and adding to evidence that residential real estate is a bright spot for the economy.

Purchases of new single-family houses climbed 13.8% to a 776,000 annualized pace after an upwardly revised May increase of 19.4%, government data showed Friday. The June pace exceeded all economists’ forecasts in a Bloomberg survey that had a median estimate of 700,000. The median selling price rose 5.6% from a year earlier to $329,200 as inventory shrank.

U.S. home construction starts rose 17% in June, with builders ramping up production as lockdowns eased.

Residential starts jumped to an annualized rate of 1.19 million, according to a government report released Friday. That matched the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey. The month-over-month increase was the biggest since October 2016, while the rate remains 4% below the level in June 2019.

We sat down with Annalise Johns, Housing Lead of Connected Places Catapult to find out a little more about her work in the built environment, health, and regeneration. We discussed the challenges facing those operating in the industry, and what COVID-19 has revealed about how the sector is structured.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what got you interested in design for human health?

My first master’s thesis focused on best practice liveable residential high density. I studied the Vancouver example which was one of the first places to explore the best way to extract developer contributions to maximize amenities for the local community. It’s an excellent example of embedding health into planning and how appropriate levels of density contribute to healthy communities if designed appropriately.

This spring, Hoar Construction has found itself on both sides of the face-covering challenge.
As guidance on virus protections for workers evolved during the spring, contractors in many parts of the U.S. chose or were compelled by state or local rules or unions to go beyond federal guidance and require workers to use a face covering of some kind on the jobsite.

Richard Korman, Engineering News-Record

Mr. Korman may be contacted at kormanr@enr.com

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Contract signings to purchase previously owned U.S. homes surged in May by the most on record as mortgage rates fell and some states began to reopen from coronavirus lockdowns.

The National Association of Realtors’ index of pending home sales increased 44.3% to a three-month high of 99.6, after falling in April to the lowest level in records back to 2001. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 19.3% gain in May. Even with the outsize advance, the index is below the pre-pandemic high of 111.4, reached in February.

Stuck day and night in their homes, a surprising number of Americans are deciding the pandemic is a great time to upgrade.

That's how it looks to Lee Whitaker, vice president of Pacesetter Homes. After the coronavirus shutdown, the small Texas homebuilder braced for the worst. And it came: Business plunged in April. Then in May, something unexpected happened. Sales were 30% above the company's own pre-crisis forecast for the month.

Last decade, housing crashed the U.S. economy. But in the 2020 pandemic, it could be one of the bright spots.

New home sales unexpectedly climbed 0.6% in April to a 623,000 annualized pace, government data showed Tuesday. That was 30% higher than the median forecast in a Bloomberg Survey of economists of 480,000. The news sent the shares of homebuilders surging, with an index that tracks the industry hitting the highest level since March 9.

We have discussed issues that may arise in the context of a residential construction project. Because most homeowners are not sophisticated in the ways of construction (and really shouldn’t be) expectations are key and keeping your nose clean as a contractor is key. Courts in some instances will lean toward the party that they deem to be less sophisticated, i. e. the homeowner, so doing anything, such as walking from a job under anything but the worst circumstances, can be very detrimental after the fact.

Recently, the Norfolk, Virginia Circuit Court gave us another reason to stay on the straight and narrow. In Builders By Design v. Wilson the Court looked at a relatively typical scenario in residential construction. The Wilson’s contracted for the construction of an addition and renovation to their home. During the course of construction, changes to the scope and price of work took place with more or less contention. Without any warning and before the construction was complete, the homeowners sent an e-mail to Builders By Design stating that it should cease work and not enter the property without the Wilson’s express written permission.

On April 16, 2020, sixteen California legislators urged Bay Area counties to relax the restrictions on housing construction under various shelter in place orders. Citing the desperate need to address the growing housing shortfall in California, the legislators recognized the intentions of the orders to limit the spread of COVID-19 and protect workers, but suggested alternative measures to allow both goals to be met.

Newmeyer Dillion continues to follow COVID-19 and its impact on your business and our communities. Feel free to reach out to us at NDcovid19response@ndlf.com or visit us at www.newmeyerdillion.com/covid-19-multidisciplinary-task-force/.

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