The residential construction industry continues to experience a labor shortage. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), there are currently over 200,000 vacant construction positions nationwide. In fact, a recent survey by the NAHB revealed that 70 Read more →

Recent legal actions by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro against 31 home improvement contractors is an inevitable side-effect of the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act (HICPA). Home improvement contractors who earn more than $5,000 a year are required to register every other year Read more →

Harrisburg, PA – Governor Tom Wolf today signed House Bill 202, known as Act 6, into law. The bill, sponsored by House Speaker Mike Turzai, amends the Public School Code to allow students in career and technology education (CTE) to demonstrate proficiency and readiness for high school Read more →

Total housing starts declined in May after a few, strong early months to begin 2017. Total starts were down 5.5%, falling to a 1.092 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, according to the joint data release from the Census Bureau and HUD. Declines were recorded for both single-family Read more →

Homeownership is an important part of the American way of life. Today there are many opportunities in the housing market – including low mortgage rates and new homes that are built to fit your lifestyle – to find a home that is right for you. But market conditions can change, and these Read more →

Contracts for new home sales expanded by 2.9% in May to a 610,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate, according to estimates from the joint data release of HUD and the Census Bureau. The report also noted a strong upward revision for the April rate of sales, increasing from a 569,000 Read more →

NAHB analysis of the Census Bureau’s quarterly tax data shows that $541 billion in taxes were paid by property owners over the four quarters ending in Q4 2016.[1] This represents a $23 billion—or 4.5%—increase over the previous trailing four quarters.  Although this growth Read more →

Existing home sales increased 1.1% in May, and 55% of homes sold last month were on the market less than a month as buyers overcame low inventory and higher prices. Although May inventory increased 2.1%, it remains 8.4% lower than a year ago and fell year-over-year for the 24th consecutive month. Read more →

According to the most recent release of the Survey of Market Absorption (SOMA), produced by the US Census Bureau in collaboration with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, completions of nonsubsidized, unfurnished, rental apartments in buildings with 5 or more units totaled to 73,300 Read more →

Roughly 10.2% of single-family homes started in 2016 qualify as tear-down starts, up from 7.7% in 2015, according to the latest estimates from NAHB.  As defined here, a tear-down start means a home built on a site where a previous structure or evidence of a previous structure was present Read more →