What will the "future" look like?

Many of my friends keep asking me, "What will happen to your industry in the future?" Right now the answer is simple...we are too busy trying to survive to look too far into into the future. However, if homebuilding is going to have a future we will have to start embracing change. I believe that homebuilding will survive and ultimately thrive again. But I also believe we need to be progressive and lead the way to future economic prosperity rather than regressing to clinging to our old practices.

The world is changing. We can use this moment to reinvent ourselves or we can wait for the world to turn back to our favor. I believe that Americans still dream of owning a good home in a good neighborhood with good schools...but now they want a sustainable home that they can afford. These changes are good for all of us...and ultimately...they are good for our future.

Here is a video and a posting from the NAHB Green Building website. Small changes can make a huge difference. Our industry can (and must) recover and our future can be better and more sustainable than ever.

What is Green Building?

Green homes incorporate environmental considerations and resource efficiency into every step of the building and development process to minimize environmental impact. The design, construction, and operation of a home must focus on energy and water efficiency, resource efficient building design and materials, indoor environmental quality, and must take the home's overall impact on the environment into account. However, many of the processes and technologies that go into a green home happen behind the scenes and behind the walls. What can a homebuyer look for?

Look for an NAHB Research Center Certified certificate, the homeowner's guarantee that the home was built according to one of the levels of green outlined in either the ICC 700-2008 National Green Building Standard or the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines. The NAHB Research Center is the sole certifier recognized by NAHB's National Green Building Program.

Other key components of a green home include:

Energy-Efficient Features

Many of the energy-efficient qualities of a green home are easy to spot. Appliances, windows, and water heating systems will likely have ENERGY STAR® ratings. The home should also include efficient lighting fixtures and bulbs. Renewable energy sources, such as photovoltaic electricity and water heating systems, further decrease the overall energy consumption within the home.

Water-Efficient Features

Fixtures and appliances such as low-flow showerheads, faucets, and toilets, and ENERGY STAR dishwashers and washing machines all conserve water. Programmed, low-volume irrigation systems, rainwater collection systems, wastewater treatment systems, and hot water recirculation systems also save water.

Resource-Efficient Features

These decisions—from home size, to orientation on the lot, to floor plan layout—are made in the design of your home and development of the lot. The house orientation and design should take advantage of natural daylight to reduce lighting needs, and should use strategies to reduce heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter. The home should contain renewable materials, including rapidly-renewable wood species such as bamboo, and recycled-content materials in carpets, tiles, and concrete formulations.

Indoor Air Quality Features

The heating, air conditioning and ventilation system (HVAC) must be appropriately sized for an efficient and properly ventilated home. Fans in the kitchen and bathrooms should cycle fresh air inside, and release stale air. Low-VOC paints and finishes and wall papers should be used as well.

Outside the Home

In a green home, care should be taken to preserve trees and other vegetation native to the area. Landscaping should contain plants that are appropriate for the climate, and grouped according to water needs. Driveways and other impervious surfaces should be reduced as much as possible, and may be composed of gravel, permeable block pavers, grids, or other permeable systems.

Here is a link to the NAHB Green Building Tax Rebates page.

Future of the Housing Market-Squawk on the Street

This morning "Squawk on the Street" on CNBC had a segment with Stephen Kim, a homebuilder analyst at Alpine Woods Capital Investors. While there a many "lingering problems" with the broader economy, Kim believes we are nearing a "true bottom".

Here is the segment featuring Mark Haines and David Faber from CNBC.



Here is David Faber’s "Faber Report" on mortgage delinquencies referenced in the previous video clip.

Green Shoots, Red Ink, Black Hole

Today on MSNBC’s “Morning Meeting” Dylan Ratigan hosted Eliot Spitzer-former New York Governor & Attorney General, Robert Shiller-Yale Economist, and Bill Fleckenstein-President of Fleckenstein Capital as they examined the current employment crisis. This is a continuation on the previous posting and I thought it would round out the discussion pretty well.

Primarily the panel was in agreement that we have some severe structural problems that must be addressed and that we are experiencing a transformation in our capitalist system. More needs to be done at a governmental level to promote a strong and vibrant recovery and rebirth.

Take a look…

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Housing Plan still facing obstacles

Here is a post from The Huffington Post today that discusses the new housing plan implemented earlier this year. The primary goal was to help slow down and prevent foreclosures. This posting casts some doubt as to whether it is achieving the mission...yet.

Obama's Housing Plan Struggling In First Few Months


Earlier this month, we reported that President Obama's "Making Home Affordable" program, a government subsidized mortgage modification plan, was mired in red tape, delays and questionable benefits for homeowners. But that's not the only area of Obama's housing recovery plan that's struggling. Despite putting a total of $275 billion on housing recovery efforts, Obama's attempts to spur housing markets have sputtered.

Today, both the New York Times and Bloomberg have focused on the kinks in Obama's plan to stabilize the real estate market.

The New York Times zeroes in on Obama's plan to offer homeowners new mortgage deals. As of June, the New York Times reported that Obama's $75 billion homeowner bailout had succeeded in modifying only 100,000 loans nationwide. Under the plan, mortgage servicing companies are offered $1,000 for each loan they modify, plus an additional $1,000 for up to three years. The NYT takes a look inside some of the call centers that are charged with offering mortgage modifications to homeowners. Unfortunately, the results are typical of many call centers. Here's the NYT's assessment:

"...in the four months since the Treasury Department announced the program, millions of new homeowners have slipped into delinquency and foreclosure. For now, progress is constrained by the limited capacities of mortgage servicing companies, said Michael S. Barr, the assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions. He offered the first signs of the administration's impatience with the institutions that control home loans.

"They need to do a much better job on the basic management and operational side of their firms," Mr. Barr said. "What we've been pushing the servicers to do is improve their infrastructure to make sure their call centers are doing a better job. The level of training is not there yet."

Obama's larger housing recovery plan has done little to boost home-buying, Bloomberg points out today. Banks are still skittish about offering loans to real estate investors, and mortgage lending is currently at a 13-year low. Bloomberg quotes Eric Belsky, executive director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies as saying that Obama's $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers has failed to significantly help the market.

Undercutting any other signs of hope in the housing market, are some troubling fundamentals. Here's Bloomberg's round-up of the data:

"Personal bankruptcies rose 37 percent in May from a year earlier, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute, based in Alexandria, Virginia. Credit card defaults in the first quarter went to 7.79 percent from 4.83 percent a year ago, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data show. While the share of loans entering foreclosure moved to 1.37 percent, the highest ever, the first-quarter mortgage delinquency rate climbed to a record 9.12 percent, the Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association said.

About 20.4 million of the 93 million houses, condos and co- ops in the U.S. were worth less than their loans as of March 31, according to Seattle-based real estate data service Zillow.com."