Register Real Estate Advisors

WASHINGTON (National Association of Home Builders) – Builder confidence in the new single-family home market edged higher for a third consecutive month in September, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released Wednesday.

The HMI rose one point to 19 this month, its highest level since May 2008.

The HMI gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.”

The index gauging current sales conditions rose two points to 18, while the index gauging traffic of prospective buyers rose one point to 17. Meanwhile, the index gauging sales expectations for the next six months declined one point to 29.

Specifically, the Southern region of the United States posted a two-point gain to 19.

WASHINGTON (National Association of Home Builders) – Twenty-six percent of home builders have seen lost sales as appraisals come in significantly below the contract sales price, according to a study conducted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

“Home builders are increasingly concerned that inappropriate appraisal practices are needlessly driving down home values. This, in turn, is slowing new home sales, causing more workers to lose their jobs and putting a drag on the economic recovery,” said Joe Robson, NAHB chairman.

According to Robson, construction of 100 single-family homes generates 324 local jobs, $21.1 million in local income and $2.2 million in taxes and other revenue for local governments in the first year.

Of the builders surveyed, 60 percent claim that inadequate appraisals are creating major problems in the market. Fifty-four percent of those reporting appraisal problems saw appraisal amounts less than the cost to build.

Robson blames the surge of faulty appraisals partly on foreclosure and distressed sales.

WASHINGTON (Forbes) – Several Texas cities are poised for a quick recovery from the national recession, according to Forbes.

Austin–Round Rock ranked first on the magazine’s recent list of ten cities most likely to bounce back quickly.

Meanwhile, San Antonio ranked fifth, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington seventh and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission ninth.

To compile its list, Forbes looked at estimates from Moody’s Economy.com of the projected gross domestic product of metropolitan areas across the United States, as well as unemployment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and home prices, incomes and affordability data from the National Association of Home Builders.

Forbes also put together a list of ten worst cities for recession recovery. No Texas cities made that list.

WASHINGTON (National Association of Home Builders) – Five Texas markets were among the ten most affordable housing markets in the south during fourth quarter 2008, according to housing opportunity index (HOI) data compiled by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo Housing.

In Sherman-Denison, 87 percent of new and existing homes sold during the final quarter of 2008 were affordable to middle-income earners, ranking the city third in the region.

Wichita Falls ranked fifth at 82.6 percent, San Angelo seventh at 79.8 percent, Fort Worth–Arlington eighth at 79 percent and Beaumont–Port Arthur ninth at 77.5 percent.

Nationally, 62.4 percent of all new and existing homes were affordable to families earning the national median income of $61,500, up from the previous quarter’s 56.1 percent and the 46.6 percent from the end of 2007.

WASHINGTON (International Code Council) – Residential builders and other professionals now have a set framework for green construction that stipulates the necessities a home must have to be considered environmentally friendly.

The International Code Council (ICC) approved the National Green Building Standard, known as ICC-700, Jan. 29. The new standard provides guidance for safe and sustainable building practices for residential construction, including both new and renovated single-family to high-rise residential buildings.

This is the first and only green standard that is consistent and coordinated with the Code Council’s family of I-Codes and standards.

The International Code Council and National Association of Home Builders developed the standard with input from the green building community.

To learn about the standard’s rating system and criteria, as well as ICC-700 training and the Code Council’s Green Building Technologies Certification program, see ICC’s press release.

WASHINGTON (Realtor.org) – A $15,000 homebuyer tax credit could be enough to encourage more people to purchase homes, according to a nationwide poll conducted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

The poll shows that a third of all 1,200 respondents and 61 percent of renters would be more likely to purchase a home if the tax incentive becomes law. The tax credit was included in the stimulus package passed by the Senate this week.

“This is extremely significant because normally in any one year only about 5 to 7 percent of households purchase a home,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.

By Emily Flitter

WASHINGTON — The Department of Housing and Urban Development is expected to announce Wednesday that it will delay implementation of a rule that has sparked outrage among lenders and home builders.

The agency has agreed to wait 90 days before implementing the rule, which would prevent builders from offering incentives to steer homebuyers to affiliated lenders. The rule, part of a Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act overhaul finalized in November, was scheduled to take effect Jan. 16.

The delay is tied to a lawsuit the National Association of Home Builders filed Dec. 22, HUD officials said. Brian Sullivan, a spokesman for the department, said its decision did not reflect uncertainty about the rule’s legality.

“The fact that we’ve agreed to a 90-day delay is simply to allow us to get our administrative ducks in a row, so we can vigorously challenge this on the merits of the case and not on some procedural ground,” Mr. Sullivan said.

Under the rule, builders would no longer be allowed to offer buyers special deals on a house contingent on the use of a specific lender. The rule drew objections from lenders and builders, who argued it would wreck partnerships and prevent qualified buyers from getting good home loans.

The ban particularly would affect builders’ joint ventures with lenders like Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Countrywide Financial Corp., now a unit of Bank of America Corp.

“The HUD rule prevents home builders from offering consumers the best possible deal on the purchase of a new home and limits the options available to new homebuyers as they seek out the services necessary at closing,” Jerry Howard, the builder group’s president, said in a press release announcing the lawsuit.

A spokeswoman for the group would not comment Tuesday on HUD’s decision to delay the rule’s implementation.

Mitchel Kider, the attorney for the plaintiffs in the case, said the delay was a “very positive development for the home builders.”

Mr. Sullivan of HUD argued that the rule would not be as prohibitive as the builders contend.

“Nothing in this final rule prevents a builder from offering incentives or discounts to consumers,” he said. “Nothing in this rule prevents a builder from suggesting a consumer consider using an affiliated or preferred lender. The only thing this rule does … is de-link these incentives — or disincentives — from the required use of affiliated settlement service providers.”

The National Association of Home Builders initially filed for a preliminary injunction against the rule last month. Rather than fight that injunction, Mr. Sullivan said HUD agreed to it, so it could prepare its case for summary judgement.

Though the decision effectively leaves it up to the incoming Obama administration to decide whether to fight to preserve the rule, Mr. Sullivan said that was not the motivation for HUD’s decision.

“These were legal decisions that were made in concert with the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” he said. “There was no political calculus in this decision.”

Though HUD has not publicly announced its decision to delay implementation, it notified participants in the suit Monday.

Many in the industry were pleased with the news.

“We think this was a wise decision,” said Anne Canfield, the executive director of the Consumer Mortgage Coalition. “There are a number of implementation issues with the Respa rule.”

Sue Johnson, the president of the Real Estate Services Providers Council Inc., also praised the decision.

“It’s a very sensible decision,” she said. “The rule would have required significant restructuring of operations of home builders, and it was very odd that they only gave a 60-day implementation period in the first place. I’ve read the home builders’ lawsuit and think that they make a very good case that there would be irreparable harm if they hadn’t gotten a preliminary injunction before the Jan. 16 date.”

Gina Harris, a Tampa lender who works with several different builders, said that her company, Builder’s Affiliated Mortgage Services, supports the rule, though she also said delaying implementation would give HUD time to flesh out some vague provisions.

“I’m a little happy that they postponed it until they define it better,” Ms. Harris said, citing uncertainties surrounding provisions about whether builders may discount closing costs. “But if they define it, and it’s to protect the consumer and encourage competition, it’s only going to be a good thing.”