Southern Utah Home Builders Association

SUHBA News You Can Use

Inside this issue:

National Green

Building Conference

2

Lead Paint Rule 2

Labor Market

Continues to Grow

3

Local: Sustainable

Growth & Water

4

New Calculator

Shows Buyers How

Much Home They Can

Afford

5

May is Home

Remodeling Month

5

April 30, 2012 Volume 1, Issue 1

2012 Board of Directors President James Sullivan S & S Homes 1st Vice President Austin Anderson AJ Construction 2nd Vice President Jake Joines J2 Construction Associate Vice President Brett Robinson BA Robinson & Sons Construction Immediate Past President Kelly Stephens SunRiver Construction Builder Directors Tyler Meyers Henry Walker Homes Jair Almarez Ivory Homes Brian Geer Brian Geer Development Associate Directors Joseph McPhie So Utah Title Co Trever Johnson Wilkinson's House of Lighting Casey Brown Better Professional Painting Steve Davis Rainbow Sign & Banner Attorney Nathan Fisher Dixon Truman Fisher & Clifford Treasurer Morris Peacock Hinton Burdick CPAs & Advisors Government Relations Tracy Ence Ence Homes Executive Officer Carol Sapp SUHBA

Our Mission is to Build Communities.

Our Tools are Education, Communication, Participation, and Advocacy.

The National Green Building

Conference & Expo provides

exceptional building science

and technology knowledge on

the principles and trends of

green building. You'll learn

about these practices from

well-known general session

speakers, be able to interact

with industry experts and your

peers during education ses-

sions that include special ses-

sions from the Energy and

Environmental Building Alli-

ance (EEBA). You'll see these

principles applied during the

Green Building & Technology

Tour. You'll talk about products

--their uses and performance--

in an exhibit hall that is com-

pletely dedicated to green

home building suppliers. You'll

recognize your industry peers

for their achievements during

the National Green Building

Awards.

You'll get contacts, resources

and ideas that are good for

your organization, your cus-

tomers and your bottom line.

With the residential green

home market expected to in-

crease fivefold by 2016, now

is the perfect opportunity to

ReEvaluate, ReFocus and Re-

Commit to Green Building.

Join us at the Nashville Con-

vention Center!

home renovation project in

Edison, N.J. The third case

involved a home repair com-

pany in Omaha, Neb., that was

charged a $5,558 penalty for

failing to provide owners or

occupants of housing built

prior to 1978 with an EPA-

approved lead hazard informa-

tion pamphlet and failing to

obtain written acknowledge-

ment from residents prior to

the beginning of renovation

activities at five homes. The

EPA states that a company's or

individual's ability to pay a

penalty is evaluated in all such

cases, and that penalties are

adjusted accordingly.

The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) recently an-

nounced its first known en-

forcement actions on remodel-

ers following implementation

of the Lead: Renovation, Re-

pair and Painting Rule (LRRP)

on April 22, 2010. In the first

of three cases, a rental prop-

erty owner agreed this March

to pay $10,000 to resolve rule

violations tied to what the

agency says was improper use

of power equipment to remove

paint from the exterior surface

of an 1850s apartment build-

ing in Rockland, Maine. The

complaint further alleged that

workers had not been trained

under the rule and that the

property owner had failed to

apply for firm certification with

the EPA. In the second case, a

New Jersey window and siding

company had to pay $1,500

this March due to failure to

contain renovation dust, con-

tain waste and train workers in

lead-safe practices as part of a

Related Information

Division of Administrative

Rules - Utah: Notice of Pro-

posed Rule

Lead-Based Paint Program

Purpose, Applicability, and

Definition

EPA Reports Enforcement Actions on Lead Paint Rule

Page 2 SUHBA News You Can Use

Quick Links:

Registration

Education

“You’ll get

contacts,

resources and

ideas that are

good for your

organization,

your customers

and your bottom

line”.

Utah

Administrative

Rules Open for

Public Comment

regarding

changes to Lead-

Based Paint

Activities.

The Value of an Education:

an NAHB Education

I know quite a few industry

professionals, from around the

country, and it seems to me

that those who have decided

to learn more about their in-

dustry are successful.

Read the entire Education post at

associationmaximization.blogspot.com

Join the SUHBA Southwest-

Green Build Council today!

Call 674-1400 for more

information.

For housing demand and con-

struction to recover to normal

levels, employment must con-

tinue to grow. While job pros-

pects are increasing, the pace

of hiring has slowed according

to recently published govern-

ment data.

March payroll employment

data from the Bureau of Labor

Statistics indicate that the

unemployment rate dropped

to 8.2%: a marginal decline.

However, the fall was due to

164,000 discouraged individu-

als dropping out of the labor

market. In March, net payroll

employment grew by only

120,000, which fell short of

market expectations given the

recent improving trend.

Additional labor market data

reveal that hiring in the con-

struction market slowed in

early 2012. The hiring rate for

the sector fell to 5.6% of total

employment, with net sector

job creation for the year to

date at only 11,000 positions.

Nonetheless, the job openings

rate for the overall economy

continues its upward post-

Great Recession trend. The

openings rate now stands at

2.6% of total employment,

which is the highest rate since

the middle of 2008.

Housing data are also consis-

tent with a slight pause amid a

number of positive indicators.

Private residential construc-

tion spending in February was

essentially unchanged. Spend-

ing on single-family homes

was down 1.5% from upwardly

revised January numbers.

Nonetheless, single-family

construction expenditures are

up 22.4% since the market

bottom in 2009.

Multifamily expenditures con-

tinued to grow in February, up

2% as the sector continues to

lead the industry. Remodeling

spending was down for the

second straight month, but

home improvement expendi-

tures were larger than single-

family construction totals for

the 16th time in the last 17

months.

The Case-Shiller house price

data indicated a small monthly

decline for the January read-

ing, but the data continue to

tell a varied story depending

on the metropolitan area.

Among the 20 component

cities, three cities posted posi-

tive gains in January. Most of

the declines were embedded

in strong seasonal patterns,

while 12 cities remained

above earlier troughs.

The NAHB/First American

Improving Markets Index grew

again in April, rising from 99 to

101. The index now classifies

a quarter of all metropolitan

areas as improving. However,

the rate of growth of the index

has recently slowed. And fu-

ture readings of the measure

may not be steady as local

house price and employment

variables reflect recent trends.

April is New Homes Month, so

Eye on Housing has also pre-

sented a number of analytical

articles concerning new con-

struction. Data from the Ameri-

can Housing Survey confirm

that new home are less expen-

sive to maintain that older

homes. Moreover, the data

indicate that new homeowners

prefer their neighborhoods

than other homeowners.

NAHB also examined what to

expect from pent-up housing

demand. As labor markets

improve, data from the Ameri-

can Housing Survey suggest

that about 70% of new house-

hold formations will be rent-

ers, which in turn will affect

rental vacancy rates and

rents, and encourage some

existing renters to become

homeowners.

Other analysis and information

appearing on NAHB’s Eye on

Housing economics blog in-

clude:

NAHB has published county-by

-county estimates of total re-

modeling spending. Areas on

the coasts and resort areas

had the highest tallies.

A new paper from NAHB Eco-

nomics estimates the total for

residential construction em-

ployment by state and Con-

gressional district.

NAHB recently completed its

700th "local economic impact

of home building" report.

These reports estimate the

jobs, tax, and other economic

benefits that occur in local

areas due to new home con-

struction.

Read more posts from NAHB

Eye on Housing at

eyeonhousing.wordpress.com

Labor Market Continues to Improve, But at a Slower Pace

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 1

“Nonetheless, the

job openings rate for

the overall economy

continues its upward

post-Great Recession

trend”.

NAHB, Chinese Manufacturers

Sign Major Exhibition Agree-

ment

WASHINGTON, April 19 -- The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has signed a memorandum of under-standing with a major Chinese trade association that will bring a large number of additional manu-facturers and product options to the annual NAHB International Builders' Show in Las Vegas in January 2013. The agreement underscores the International Builders' Show's role as the pre-eminent light construction trade show in the Americas.

A formal signing ceremony

was held April 19 in Foshan,

China, between officials from

the China Building Ceramics &

Sanitaryware Association and

NAHB's Immediate Past Chair-

man Bob Nielsen, a home

builder and developer in Reno,

Nev., and Mark Pursell, NAHB

Senior Vice President for Exhi-

bitions, Marketing and Sales.

"This agreement is a big win

for both organizations," Niel-

sen said.

Follow www.Twitter.com/

NAHBMedia for more on this

and other topics.

Page 4 SUHBA News You Can Use

tool is designed to make such

information quickly available

to users who have Excel, and

the NAHB website provides

helpful instructions on how to

make sure that program is

correctly set up on your com-

puter for the tool to work. Im-

portantly, NAHB also offers a

second version of the calcula-

tor that lets the user specify

the loan-to-value ratio instead

of a downpayment. For con-

venience, the updated ver-

sions of the calculators con-

tain national averages for the

required assumptions and

A newly updated tool from

NAHB Economics helps con-

sumers determine how much

home they can reasonably

afford, and can also be a very

useful resource for builders'

sales staff.

NAHB's Affordable House Price

Calculator is a handy tool to

have at your fingertips when a

prospective buyer is not sure

how much home they can

comfortably afford based on

their available income and

downpayment.

In an example cited in our Eye

on Housing blog, based on

conventional mortgage under-

writing standards and national

average assumptions about

mortgage, tax and insurance

rates, the calculator shows

that a family who earns

$60,000 a year and has a

$10,000 downpayment can

afford to a purchase a home

priced up to about $218,500.

The spreadsheet calculator

links to current interest and

local property tax rates. Re-

member that NAHB's afford-

able spreadsheet calculators

aren't just for consumers --

builders and Realtors may

also want to use them to help

prospective customers decide

what home is right for them.

For access to both versions of

the affordable house price

calculator, and instructions for

setting up Excel to run them,

click here. Your contact for

more information is Paul Em-

rath (800-368-5242 x8449).

Calculator Shows Buyers How Much Home They Can Afford

up Excel to run them,

click here.

Your contact for more infor-

mation is Paul Emrath (800-

368-5242 x8449).

The NAHB Remodelers are

getting ready to promote

National Home Remodeling

Month in May, and they

have some great resources

for accomplishing this

within the National Home

Remodeling Month cam-

paign kit. Materials within

this kit include customizable

press releases and op-

eds, downloadable web

banners, and some very

helpful suggestions on ways

that local HBAs can in-

crease community aware-

ness of this important time.

One great idea is to hold a

seminar about remodeling

for aging-in-place at a local

senior center or other com-

munity organization. This

would be an opportune time

for local remodelers to ex-

plain the fundamentals of

universal design, describe

the expertise of Certified

Aging-in-Place Specialists,

and share examples of ag-

ing-in-place remodeling

projects.

Read more tips for National

Home Remodeling Month,

or contact Nissa Hiatt (800-

368-5242 x8451) for more

information. and Realtors

may also want to use them

to help prospective custom-

ers decide what home is

right for them. For access to

both versions of the afford-

able house price calculator,

and instructions for setting

Get Ready to Celebrate National Home Remodeling Month

Appraisers and Builders Still at

Odds Over What New Homes

Are Worth

Are

Appraisals

Killing

Home Sales?

Weigh in on

the

discussion at

Friends of NAHB LinkenIn Group

Join the

NAHB

Remodelers

Group on

LinkedIn to

become part of

the discussion.

Page 5 Volume 1, Issue 1

There are also many NAHB

LinkedIn Groups that might

interest you and connect with

professionals from across the

country to share ideas and

network:

The National Association of

Home Builders

Friends of NAHB

NAHB Associates

NAHB Remodelers

NAHB National Sales and

Marketing Council

Official NAHB Professional

Women in Building Network

Find NAHB on other popular

social networks

Connect to building industry

professionals in Southern

Utah and stay up to date on

what’s happening with SUHBA

events at a moments notice.

SUHBA Facebook Group

SUHBA Parade of Homes

Facebook FanPage

SUHBA Twitter

SUHBA YouTube Channel

Additional Groups or Blogs

The Associate Outreach

Network

Association Maximization Blog

Stay Connected To Your Industry

Coral Canyon Town Center

2303 N Coral Canyon Blvd. #200

Washington, UT 84780

Phone: 435-674-1400

Fax: 435-674-2866

E-mail: suhba@suhba.com

SUHBA Staff

Executive Officer

Carol Sapp

carol@suhba.com

Director of Operations

Mari Smith

mari@suhba.com

Member Services Director

Kathy Tolleson

kathy@suhba.com

Administrative Assistant

Toni McDonald

toni@suhba.com

Accounting

Barbara Button

books@suhba.com

Southern Utah Home Builders Association

"Our Mission is to Build Communities.

Our Tools are

Education, Communication,

Participation and Advocacy".

Visit us on the web:

www.suhba.com

www.paradehomes.com

www.buildingconference.com