November 19, 2009

October Decline in Housing Starts: No Cause for Worry

If you believe the tax credit for first-time buyers stimulated housing starts and sales this year, then you shouldn't be too worried by yesterday's report that single-family starts fell 6.8 percent in October. The deadline for buyers to take the credit (November 30) was fast approaching. Builders were intent on selling the homes they had in inventory, rather than starting new ones. They didn't know for certain whether the tax credit would be extended. Read more...

 
 
November 16, 2009

Reports of FHA's Demise Greatly Exaggerated

You hear it all the time in conversation: The federal government has merely transferred the subprime problem from the GSEs to FHA. People ask, "How can the government in good conscience be making mortgages to people and only require 3 percent downpayments, especially in today's economic environment with rampant job losses?" Let's not forget that these are the very economic conditions under which the FHA was designed to operate. The whole idea behind the program was that the government would step into the mortgage market when private lenders weren't willing to lend, which turns out to be a pretty good description of the situation today. FHA insured half the mortgages made to first-time buyers in the second quarter of this year. There may not have been a housing recovery without the FHA. Read more...

 
 
November 09, 2009

Home Builders Receive Early Tax Present

Large and medium-sized home builders received an early holiday gift in the form of the new five-year tax lookback signed into law by President Obama last week. The new law gives builders an additional three years to carry back net operating losses from their 2008 or 2009 tax returns. Companies that have already filed their 2008 returns could file for refunds immediately. Make no mistake: The home building industry could really use the help. But like all federal tax policy initiatives, this one is far from perfect. Read more...

 
 
November 05, 2009

Why the Senate Did the Right Thing

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November 03, 2009

Early Recovery Evidenced by Some Third-Quarter Earnings Reports

Look past the headlines about continued losses and you can see clear signs of housing's nascent recovery in the third-quarter public earnings reports issued within the last two weeks. Consider that M.D.C. reported a 53 percent increase in net orders in its third quarter, compared to the previous year. Or that new-home contracts rose 36 percent during the quarter at M/I Homes, even though the company lost $21.1 million. Or that NVR managed to increase its new orders 12.6 percent during the third quarter, despite having 17 fewer communities. Read more...

 
 

About the Blogger

Boyce Thompson

thumbnail image Boyce Thompson is editorial director of the BUILDER group of magazines published by Hanley Wood, LLC. He also directs the company’s editorial council. In addition to BUILDER, Thompson serves as editorial director of Big Builder, Multifamily Executive, Digital Home, Developer, Affordable Housing Finance, and Apartment Finance Today magazines. Thompson has 26 years of experience writing and editing articles about home building, architecture, and retailing. He earned a M.A. in Journalism from the University of Missouri and holds a B.S. degree in English Literature from Northwestern University.