Beck & Bingenheimer Inc. Custom Green Home Builder in Charleston SC

2010-10-20T19:43:00.001-07:00

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2010-10-20T19:41:00.001-07:00

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2010-10-20T19:28:00.001-07:00

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Record Low Mortgage Rates Are Not Yet Enticing Many Buyers

2010-09-22T10:36:00.000-07:00

Record low mortgage rates have not yet produced much of a lift for home sales. Sales of both new and existing homes appear to have risen modestly following their sharp declines in July in the wake of the expiration of the homebuyer tax credits. With the declines, the supply of unsold homes remains uncomfortably high relative to sales. Sales normally weaken during the fall on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. Because sales are already so low, however, they probably will not fall as much as they normally would, which means the seasonally adjusted data may show modest gains. No significant improvement in sales or construction is expected to take place until the spring homebuying season. By then, the economy should have put up a fairly lengthy string of modest private-sector job gains, which should bolster confidence and household formations.

(blog authors input: according the the report deliquent mortgages are up, and housing prices should expect further decline in major markets in the US: recently there have been some reports that foreclosures were DOWN in the Charleston SC Market). I predict further price declines in the Charleston Market as well. New home buidling in Charleston should begin to resurface albeit at a slower pace- but will be directly affected by any trends in the resale market in Charleston SC)

Credit for report in first paragraph above: Wells Fargo Economics. Feel free to contact author for full report.

Housing Starts and Permits-Less Sanguine Single-Family Details Beneath the Headlines

2010-09-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

Housing Starts and Permits
Less Sanguine Single-Family Details Beneath the Headlines

1. Single-family permits down modestly as builder confidence remains weak: Single-family housing permits fell 1.2% to 401,000 units annualized in August from 406,000 units in July (revised down 2.4%), better than our expectation for a 3% decline to 394,000 but still at the lowest level since April ‘09, as builders remain cautious given the lack of demand. Total permits increased 1.8% to 569,000 units annualized from 559,000 units in July (revised down from 565,000), above our 540,000 estimate and consensus expectations for permits to remain flat at 560,000 units, driven by an 11.9% increase in multi-family (5+ units) permits. Single-family permits fell 4.5% in the Northeast, 2.4% in the West, 1.4% in the Midwest, and were flat in the South.
2. Single-family starts post a surprising gain, driven by seasonal adjustments, but unlikely to hold in September: Single-family starts increased 4.3% to 438,000 units annualized in August from 420,000 units annualized in July (revised down 3% from 432,000 units), better than our 415,000 estimate. This increase went against the trend lower in permits (July permits fell 3.6%), aided by a 3% drawdown in housing units authorized but not yet started as well as an upward seasonal adjustment (single-family starts actually fell 0.7% sequentially on an unadjusted basis). We expect starts to fall in September based on the decline in permits, especially as permits are now running well below starts (401,000 vs. 438,000). Total starts jumped 10.5% to 598,000 units annualized in August from 541,000 units annualized in July (revised down from 546,000), well above our 524,000 estimate and consensus of 550,000, driven by a huge 42.7% surge in multi-family starts. Single-family starts increased 22.7% in the West, 18.9% in the Midwest, and 0.5% in the South, while falling 28% in the Northeast.

Blog Authors opinion: for more information or the full report please contact me. The market is still way down in a relative sense. This is probaly a blip in the long steady recovery we are headed towards. Homebuilding in Charleston SC has still been extremely limted with exception of first time homebuyers (and tax credit) via production builders. (you can see the relatively slow increase in starts in the south via the report above)

Credits: equity research division of Credit Suisse (http://http://www.credit-suisse.com/)

Construction up 10.5% in August?

2010-09-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

The U.S. Commerce Department reported housing starts up 10.5 percent in August to an annualized 598,000 housing units—above analysts' predictions of 535,000. Jim Buchta reports that although "analysts were surprised by the size of the increase, the one-month report isn't enough to signal the beginning of a recovery—that'll come only after the employment picture improves." Single-family housing rose 4.2 percent from July—the first rise since April. Building permits fell 1.2 percent during the same period. A National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released Monday "showed builders' sentiment and sales activity remained near record lows," Buchta writes.

Input from Author of this blog: This is a national report and does is not necessarily indicative of home building in the Charleston South Carolina (SC) area. For further information on home building in Charelston SC please feel free to contact me or visit our website (http://beckbuiltinc.com)

credits: (http://http://www.architectmagazine.com/) (http://http://www.startribune.com/business/103492854.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUsZ)

Beck Built Inc. officer Ned Beck is has completed courses for CGP designation

2010-09-22T09:28:00.001-07:00

Beck Built Inc. (http://beckbuiltinc.com/) is proud to announce that Ned Beck has recently completed his Certified Green Professional designation for Green Home Building for the National Association of Home Builders. This will give the firm accreditation in yet another green building certification program. The firm is also 'Green Builder Certified' via Kirk Bingenheimer's designation via Green Builder college.

We are local green building experts in the Charleston South Carolina (SC) area. Feel free to contact us if you are interested in building a Custom Home and would like a Green Home Builder. We consider this an area in which we have great expertise and love nothing more than to help a client attain their goal of a high performance green home irrespective of project size or budget!

Economists react to Fed statement

2010-09-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) issued a statement on Tuesday that keeps monetary policy essentially unchanged for the present. And The New York Times Economix blog excerpts economists' and commentators' reactions this morning. The "Fed seems to be resigned to a wait and see approach that accepts a slow, plodding, agonizing recovery for the unemployed," says University of Oregon economist Mark Thoma. Barclays Capital's Michael Gapen writes, "The lack of any direct reference to unemployment may signal that the FOMC sees the structural issues plaguing labor markets as something monetary policy is not well equipped to address." And The New York Times' Paul Krugman adds, "[B]ased on what we know about prolonged periods of economic weakness, the market is probably too optimistic."

this was an excerpt from Architect newswire (http://http://www.architectmagazine.com/) and sourced from the New York Times (http://http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/economists-reactions-to-fed-statement/?dbk)

*this will certainly affect the Charleston South Carolina (SC) housing market to include custom home building. (opinion of Ned T. Beck- owner- Beck Built Inc. (http://beckbuiltinc.com/). for more information on the Charleston SC homebuilding market please feel free to contact us.