News

Moms Become Home Builders For Habitat For Humanity (FOX 2 News St. Louis)
Dozens of St. Louis moms got a head start on mother's day, Saturday, cutting wood and driving nails. They were part of the "Women Build Initiative"; turning everyday moms into home builders for Habitat for Humanity. Yolanda Frazier never knew she had it in her: building things, first of all, let alone owning her own house. "Right now I'm on a section 8 program," said Frazier, working on several ...

Remodeling business follows housing lower (MSNBC)
The downturn in the housing market has dragged the remodeling sector with it. For many contractors, that means a sudden struggle to stay busy.

Hidden Lake Receives Award from National Association of Home Builders (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)
RALEIGH, N.C.----Hidden Lake, a community near Wake Forest, N.C., has received the prestigious "Green Project of the Year" Award from the National Association of Home Builders. Representatives from Crescent Communities, the developer of Hidden Lake, accepted the award at a ceremony in New Orleans on Sunday.

U.S. luxury-home builder reports sharp fall in sales (International Herald Tribune)
Toll Brothers said preliminary home building sales in second quarter fell by 30 percent from a year earlier to $817.9 million.

Housing Prices Tumble in Two-Thirds of U.S. Cities (Update1) (Bloomberg.com)
May 13 (Bloomberg) -- Housing prices fell in two-thirds of U.S. cities in the first three months of the year as a rise in foreclosures depressed property values and home sales tumbled 22 percent, the National Association of Realtors said.

Home builders back off opposition to trust land reform (The Arizona Republic)
Arizona home builders, who have repeatedly given the death blow to conservation efforts, have agreed to let a state trust land reform initiative move forward without a fight.

Governor's deal with builders irks senators (The Arizona Republic)
Some Republican state lawmakers on Monday blasted a ''backroom deal'' between Gov. Janet Napolitano and a Valley home-builders group that would exempt residential developers from sharing a portion of the costs of a major transportation initiative in exchange for a $100,000 contribution to boost the signature-gathering campaign.

Home builders to carry more costs from defect lawsuits (Las Vegas Business Press)
Homes in Nevada could end up costing even more as a result of a precedent-setting federal court decision giving insurance companies the right to seek reimbursement from their insured builders for money paid out to settle lawsuits.

Minister lets slips fears over housing (AFP via Yahoo! News)
A minister let slip fears about the state of the country's housing market Tuesday by inadvertently showing briefing notes as she arrived for a meeting.

Housing Prices Tumble in Two-Thirds of U.S. Cities (Update3) (Bloomberg.com)
May 13 (Bloomberg) -- The median price for a single-family home in the U.S. dropped 7.7 percent in the first quarter, the biggest decline in at least 29 years, as values tumbled in two- thirds of U.S. cities, the National Association of Realtors said.

Mortgage cos. reveal damage from housing crisis (AP via Yahoo! News)
Broad damage in the mortgage industry was in full view Monday as a number of companies posted dismal first-quarter earnings, but there were also some hope that the worst of the housing crisis is over.

Five Things You Need to Know: Themes Converge Into Possible Housing Solution (Minyanville via Yahoo! Finance)
There are several themes at play in today's Five Things that we believe could potentially converge into a singular, overarching housing solution.

Housing inventory rises again in April (CNN Money)
The number of homes for sale was on the rise again in April, according to figures from Zip Realty, a California-based real estate broker.