NAHB Lobbies to Extend Tax Credit

The National Association of Home Builders have heard from their members that the housing tax credit for first time home buyers has been driving sales, and recent economists’ observations have shown the truth – the tax credit is working.  People are buying homes.  But with the credit about to expire in November and the housing market still struggling, the NAHB wants Congress to extend the credit to November 2010.  Doing so could fuel 80,000 more starts in the coming year.  The NAHB also wants to expand the availability to all purchasers of a primary residence rather than just first time buyers.  There is a downside – without a looming deadline people are more likely to postpone decisions.  Also some builders have put up spec homes in order to capitalize on late coming buyers as we near the deadline.  Those builders may have to carry those homes longer than expected if the deadline is moved out.

Source: Builderonline.com

Get America Working

Richard Slawson, the Executive-Secretary of the Los Angeles & Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council (whew!) had a word or two for the officials in government.  He makes a strong argument that nothing will get fixed in the current economy unless people are working.  Start public works projects, open barriers to new developments, and funnel the money to the right communities to get people working again.  Those working people then buy stuff they wouldn’t be buying if they were sitting at home, and they pay sales and income taxes they wouldn’t otherwise pay either.  It’s a giant ball that needs to get going in the right direction but has all kinds of ancillary payoffs if you do get it moving.  Read more at: Building Trade News.com

Stimulus Plan Slow, Easy to Criticize

There are a lot of critics to the stimulus package of late, including these articles from the New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle. Of course only a small part of the stimulus package has been spent. By the end of the year, only 25% of the $787 billion will be paid out. So it is a little early to criticize. Not only that but the economy is a BIG ship and it takes time to get it pointed right again. Keep in mind that this isn’t about dumping a couple of bucks and having people spread it around. The plan is about long term sustainability, building infrastructure and technology that will create jobs years from now.

New Homes and Prices Up in California Communities

A small nugget of positive news comes from California, in which several metropolitan areas are seeing year over year growth. Of course this is California and who doesn’t want to live there, right? Nevertheless, Vallejo – Fairfield had average home prices increase by 17% which is pretty darn good considering the rest of the economy. Heck it even beats any investment plan that I know of. Read more at Timesheraldonline.com.

Did We Miss the Opportunity to Fix Housing?

Well, only if you consider a complete and instantaneous reverse in the market trends. According to a report from the New York Times, we missed the chance to fix the housing market by 3 years. The downtrend started very sharply in 2006 but a fix wasn't in place until early 2009. Hats off to all the policymakers and economists out there! It also explains that the stimulus money may not go as far toward fixing residential construction as you might hope. Since much of the money is going to public programs (roads, bridges, etc) a lot of residential labor and equipment is still idle because it cannot be used in public projects. If you want to beat yourself over the head some more, read about it at New York Times.