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Happy 4th of July	BUILDER & DEVELOPER June 2009

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Market News

Housing Affordability Boosts Buyers' Opportunities
NPR
There are some signs for hope that the swooning housing market is beginning to find its footing.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10428 7157

Economists React: New-Home Sales Stability May Be Short-Lived
The Wall Street Journal
If sales are able to sustain their recent stabilization, inventories could probably be worked down towards more normal levels by the first part of 2010 given how low new single-family housing construction has fallen.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/06/24/economists-reac t-new-home-sales

Homebuilder shares up after Lennar report
Associated Press
Shares of major U.S. homebuilders rose Thursday after Lennar Corp.'s second-quarter earnings report showed a significant spike in sales of completed homes and new orders compared with the prior three-month period.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gExfB wqmDtOMYk

US STOCKS-Wall St rises with retailers, home builders
Guardian
Gains in home builders and retailers point to signs of strength in consumer spending, which could be a boon for stocks just as the second-quarter earnings reporting period gets under way.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/8577025

Banks offered 61% off these foreclosures
OC Register
At a recent foreclosure auction in Santa Ana, investors bought eight properties, or 36% of the 22 offered for sale.
http://mortgage.freedomblogging.com/2009/06/30/investors-tempt ed-b

New building starts up 34% from April
OC Register
New building permits for single-family homes in Orange County in May totaled 145, just 2 fewer than last May and up from 108 in April, new construction industry figures show.
http://lansner.freedomblogging.com/2009/06/30/new-b uilding-sta rts-up-

Three Reasons Pending Sales Isn’t a Reliable Indicator
The Wall Street Journal
The National Association of Realtors is trumpeting a fourth consecutive monthly gain in their report of pending home sales.
http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2009/07/01/three-reasons -pending

U.S. home prices still falling, but not quite as steeply
Los Angleles Times
U.S. home prices continued to fall sharply in April but are no longer doing so at a record-breaking pace, according to a widely followed index released Tuesday.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-home-sales1-2009 jul01

Pending Sales of Existing Homes in U.S. Increased 0.1% in May
Bloomberg
The number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes rose for a fourth consecutive month in May, a sign the four-year slump in housing sales may be bottoming out.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=azoz62A6P434

California bills seek to lift home sales
Wall Street Journal
Even as California lawmakers slash services and lay off workers to help close the state's $21 billion budget deficit, there is one area where they want to increase funding: a home-buyer tax-credit program meant to help revive the local real-estate market.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124624790198767385.html

McMansions Out of Favor, For Now
The Wall Street Journal
Americans want smaller homes, but will the desire for less square footage outlast the recession?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124630276617469437.html

As an Efficientcy Rating, the Energy Star Has Faded
The Wall Street Journal
Homes given the Eco-Designation could face tougher rules if the EPA revises a program it says is too lax.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124596554638256383.html

Lennar's Strategies Shave Home Inventory
The Wall Street Journal
Creative sales strategies helped Lennar Corp blow through unsold inventory and beat the Street's revenue estimate, but they weren't enough to narrow the quarter's loss.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124592523065252943.html

Home Builders Make Grab for Cheap Land
The Wall Street Journal
U.S. home builders, long burdened with excess holdings of land, now are shopping for more of it.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124580468578044919.html

New-home Orders Up at KB Home
USA Today
KB Homesaid Friday its new-home orders in the second quarter spiked 59% over first quarter levels, but its financial results still missed Wall Street's estimates.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/earnings/2009-06-26

Housing in peril as Obama fails to get breakthrough
Bloomberg News
Four months after President Barack Obama pledged $275 billion to shore up home sales, the engine that powered every U.S. recovery since 1960 is stalled.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aiZMzULhjTIo

More States Help First-Time Home Buyers Monetize Tax Credit
NAHB
With the recent addition of Nebraska, Texas and Virginia, 13 states have now taken steps to monetize the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers so that it can be used for downpayments and closing costs.
http://www.nbnnews.com/NBN/issues/2009-06-29/Front+Page/3.html

FHA TAX CREDIT MONETIZATION HELPS HOME BUYERS WITH UPFRONT COSTS
NAHB
First-time home buyers who would otherwise qualify for the $8,000 tax credit, but don’t have the money for a down payment or closing fees, may now be able to get a loan to help cover those upfront costs.
http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?sectionID=0&newsID=9333

BUILDERS SERVING MATURE HOME BUYER MARKET SEE MORE CONSUMER INTEREST
NAHB
Builders of single-family housing for the mature home buyer market reported an increase in traffic of prospective buyers during the first quarter of this year, according to the 55+ Housing Market Index (55+ HMI) released today by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?sectionID=0&newsID=9304

House Votes to Preempt National Building Code Process
NAHB
By a vote of 219 to 212, the House on June 26 narrowly approved climate change legislation that would establish a “cap and trade” market for buying and selling pollution allowances and create mandatory national energy code requirements for all homes and buildings.
http://www.nbnnews.com/NBN/issues/2009-06-29/Politics+%26+Government/index.html

New Appraisal Rules Blamed for Killing Some Sales
The Washington Post
Real estate agents and mortgage brokers say home appraisals are coming in lower than agreed-on prices and disrupting sales because of new appraisal rules put into effect by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on May 1.
http://www.washingtonpost.com

Homebuilder Hovnanian announces debt repurchase
Associated Press
Homebuilder Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. said Monday it is making a cash offer to buy back corporate notes to lower its debt levels.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/06/22/ap6572569.html

Where do home prices really stand?
Associated Press
Is the historic U.S. housing market crash close to being over, or is the end still far, far away?
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/06/28/explained06281.html

George Skelton: To fix the budget, first fix the state
Los Angeles Times
Once again, Capitol politicians are fighting over how to fix the chronically bleeding state budget.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cap29-2009jun29,0,4866723.column

Climate Bill Shaped by Compromise
Los Angeles Times
Facing a mood unfriendly to sweeping changes in energy policy, House Democratic leaders and Obama had one thing that made interest groups more receptive: They were willing to negotiate.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-energy28-2009jun28,0,7474723.story

Blog: Frenzied bidding on discounted foreclosures
Orange County Register
Investors announced bids within seconds of each other on some steeply discounted foreclosures auctioned on Friday in front of the Santa Ana Courthouse.
http://mortgage.freedomblogging.com/2009/06/27/investors-compete-for -disounted-foreclosures/12763/

KB Home Sales Up Over First Quarter, Down From 2008
The Desert Sun
Going into its second quarter, KB Home had everyone wondering whether the homebuilder could duplicate the standout performance of its first quarter — posting a 26 percent year-over-year increase in new orders for the first time in more than three years.
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20090627/BUSINESS04/906260347/1006/news01/ KB+home+sales+up+ over+first+quarter++down+from+2008

Professional Community Management of California, Inc. announces new CEO,
Donny Disbro

Donny Disbro to succeed Russ Disbro and Jeff Olsen in leading California’s second largest manager of homeowner associations

Lake Forest, Calif. (June 8, 2009)—Professional Community Management of California, Inc. (PCM), announced today Donny Disbro has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer for the company. Donny is succeeding former co-CEOs, Russ Disbro and Jeff Olsen, who will remain with PCM as chairmen and vice chairmen of the executive board. As PCM’s CEO, Donny will be responsible for leading the nation’s third largest senior housing management firm and California’s second biggest manager of homeowner associations. PCM has expanded rapidly in recent years, growing from 175 to 277 associations in the last decade. PCM is nationally recognized for its management of large-scale residential communities, whereby they have the proven ability to manage resort style communities on site, as well as manage communities from the regional offices. PCM has continued to thrive in a challenging economy, with twenty five percent client growth in the last four years. Former PCM co-CEOs, Russ Disbro and Jeff Olsen, are noted as industry leaders for their integral role in establishing a respected trade association, California Association of Community Managers. Russ Disbro and Jeff Olsen also directed PCM in managing one of the nation’s first resort style active adult communities, Laguna Woods Village located in Laguna Woods, Calif., since its inception.
http://www.pcminternet.com

With offices from coast-to-coast, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Commercial Real Estate Banking is the largest provider of commercial real estate financial services in the country. This dedicated team of real estate professionals provides project and corporate finance and comprehensive financial solutions for a broad array of clients including public and private Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) as well as commercial and residential development companies. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. As a leader in the community development industry, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has made a commitment to urban revitalization. Through tax credit investments, the bank supports projects that contribute to the revitalization of neighborhoods, stabilize and preserve communities, create jobs and encourage other economic development.
To learn more, visit their website http://www.bankofamerica.com.

Calendar of Events

CLICK ON THE EVENT LINK TO BE TAKEN DIRECTLY TO EVENT'S WEBSITE

July 08	2009 AIA/CES Provider Conference www.aia.org	Santa Barbara, CA
Sept 09	CEDIA EXPO 2009 www.asid.org	Atlanta, GA
Sept 12	Arizona Home & Building Expo azbigmedia.com	Phoenix, AZ
Sept 14	HD Boutique Expo & Conference hdboutique.com	Miami, FL
Sept 17	21st Century Building Expo & Conference 21buildingexpo.com	Charlotte, NC
Sept 24	Changing Times/Time for Change: Practice, Productivity and Effectiveness www.aia.org	Chicago, IL
Sept 25	AIA Women's Leadership Summit: Developing a Network of Role Models www.aia.org	Wyndham, Chicago
Oct 07	Beyond the Horizon www.aia.org	Chicago. IL
Oct 17	Highpoint Market www.highpointmarket.com	HighPoint, NC
Oct 23	Designing Learning Environment to Rebuild Urban America www.aia.org	New York, NY
Oct 25	Building Systems Councils Showcase www.nahb.org	Marco Island, FL
Oct 25	The 2009 Remodeling Show www.nahb.org	Indianapolis, IN
Oct 29	Homes for Life Awards www.nahb.org	Indianapolis, IN
Oct 29	CADRE Awards www.nahb.org	Indianapolis, IN
Nov 3-6	ULI Fall Meeting www.uli.org	San Francisco, CA
Nov 05	Leadership Training Conference www.nahb.org	New Orleans, LA
Nov 06	Custom Building Symposium + Design Institute www.nahb.org	San Diego, CA
Nov 06	National Conference on Membership www.nahb.org	New Orleans, LA
Nov 11	Greenbuild 2009 www.nahb.org	Phoenix, AZ
Nov 16	Brownfields 2009 brownfields2009.com	New Orleans, LA
Nov 19	Arc-US www.usgbc.com	St. Petersberg, FL