Home Builders To Sue EPA
lead based paint
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a coalition of housing industry groups recently announced plans to file a lawsuit against the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for removing the “opt-out” provision from its Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting rule (LRRP). The rule applies to homes constructed before 1978 when lead paint was banned. Its opt-out provision, which expired July 6, let consumers allow contractors to bypass extra preparation, clean-up, and recordkeeping requirements in homes where there were no children under age 6 or pregnant women, thus avoiding additional costs. Read more 
New Home Starts Fall
new home starts
The Commerce Department reported this morning that housing starts fell about 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 575,000 in February. Zach Pandl, a Nomura Securities Economist wrote in a note to clients: “The decline in February likely reflected, at least in part, inclement heavy snow across much of the country. Although the February starts report was slightly better than expected, in our view, the construction recovery more broadly remains very disappointing, and yesterday’s decline in homebuilder sentiment suggests firms see little reason for optimism about the outlook.”
Sacramento California attorney
Southern California Home Builders
brokerforyou.com Bob Schwartz
Recently, the National Association of Homebuilders reported that its monthly survey of builder confidence for January had dropped one point to 15 on concerns over job losses and the many foreclosed homes competing for buyers.
The index reflects a survey of 504 residential developers nationwide. Index readings below 50 indicate negative sentiment about the market. A year ago, the confidence reading was at a record low of 8. During the boom years of the past decade, it was in the 70s.
Home Builders Has Largest Up-Tick in Five Years
The National Association of Home Builders index rose to it's largest monthly increase in the past five years. This is great news, but it still shows that only about one in seven builders thinks business is good or fair.
The reasons behind this real estate market are really no secret: mortgage rates near all-time lows, both Federal & California state home buyer tax creditsand the optim real estate buying season.
Here in California, besides the $8,000 first time home buyer's credit, California has a 5% (max. $10,000) new home credit. This combined with home mortgage rates around 4.75%, all make for a very appealing reason to get a home of your own. San Diego Realtor
Home Builders Pushed 100% Loans to Move Properties
A recent report from the Laborers' International Union of North America stated:
Homeowners who purchased at newer developments are more likely to have 100%-financed, adjustable-rate mortgages because of builders' efforts to push risky subprime loans. As a result… certain new-home communities are now littered with vacancies created by foreclosures that are pushing prices down. Zeroing in on Maricopa County in Arizona, the report found that more than a third of mortgages made by the finance arms of three major builders there — KB Home, Lennar Corp. and Richmond American Homes — were five-year ARMs set to adjust in 2010 and 2011. San Diego County real estate blog