A vitally important federal permit for home builders
survived a serious challenge last week when the U.S. Court of Appeals' Seventh Circuit kept intact the EPA's Construction General Permit (CGP) for regulating storm water discharges.

This permit, which was developed and defended by the EPA with NAHB's input and help, is currently the most efficient option available for home builders to ensure compliance with strict federal storm water rules on construction sites. The court unanimously decided that the CGP does NOT violate the Clean Water Act's requirements for public notice and public hearing. The judges also held that the EPA complied with Endangered Species Act requirements in issuing the permit, and refused to consider additional examination requirements and other permit modifications that were sought by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and would have made the home building process much more difficult and expensive. Going forward, it's possible that the NRDC will petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case, a move NAHB would oppose. Given the fact that compliance with existing storm water requirements already adds between $1,400 and $4,500 to the cost of every lot, this victory should be particularly gratifying to affordability-minded home builders and buyers. See our press release or contact Tom Ward, x8230. 

A NFPA proposal to require fire sprinkler systems
in all new one- and two-family dwellings was approved at the (National Fire Protection) Association's annual conference last week. This approved measure would be a new requirement under the 2006 editions of the NFPA 101, Life Safety Code and NFPA 5000 Building Code. NAHB will appeal the decision to NFPA’s Standards Council on procedural grounds, and firmly maintains that current residential systems are not a cost-effective improvement to occupant safety or property protection. While it is very likely that the requirement will ultimately be included in the 2006 editions, jurisdictions adopting NFPA 101 generally don't apply it to one- and two-family construction and jurisdictions nationwide have shown little to no interest in adopting NFPA 5000 for single-family construction. Contact Larry Brown (x8565) for more information. [return to top]

This could be another record year for housing,
according to top housing and mortgage finance economists who participated in a biannual conference call that was sponsored by the Homeownership Alliance last week for financial analysts and reporters. NAHB's own chief economist, David Seiders, participated, as did Fannie Mae's David Berson, the National Association of Realtors' David Lereah, and the Independent Community Bankers of America's Paul Merski. Acknowledging that the housing sector's performance has exceeded everyone's expectations this year, Seiders attributed the ongoing strength to the unexplainable phenomenon of continuing low mortgage rates. This is driving more and more buyers to the market, with a record number of applications for home mortgages recorded in the latest month. Seiders expects 1.2 million new home sales this year.

As for all the bubble talk, said Lereah, "Yes, there's froth in many markets — but froth can be healthy." He said he would not be surprised to see another record for existing home sales in the next couple of months, and is expecting close to 6.9 million existing-home sales and 1.24 million new-home sales for 2005. More than 100 listeners dialed in to the teleconference, including reporters from USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and CNBC, and the event generated stories in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Orlando Sentinel, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and Associated Press. Hear the economists' generally upbeat predictions for yourself at the Homeownership Alliance Web site. [return to top]

Builders are confident, and starts are up
according to the latest available data from NAHB and the Commerce Department. On June 15, NAHB released the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), our monthly confidence gauge for single-family builders. While the index only inched up one point, that brought it to 71, its highest level since December 2004. The explanation: favorable financing, of course. In the four weeks leading up to the latest HMI, the average rate on a 30-year, fixed mortgage declined 21 basis points to just 5.56% as of June 9. This, combined with strong price appreciation, has simply proven too great an incentive for many households to pass up. See our press release and HMI tables online, or contact Gopal Ahluwalia (x8480) or Ashok Chaluvadi (x8482) for more HMI data. The next day, when the government reported housing starts figures for May, a two-tenths of a percent gain was measured from the previous month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.01 million units. This was the fifth consecutive gain in the last six months. Single-family construction led the way with a 4.7% gain to a 1.7 million-unit pace, while multifamily starts, which often show greater volatility, fell just over 19% to 305,000 units. See our release. [return to top]

A state's rights challenge to the Endangered Species Act
has failed with the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case on June 13. The appeal, which was backed by NAHB as well as the National Farm Bureau Federation and the states of Texas, Alaska, Delaware and New Jersey, sought to establish that the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce did not appy to protecting animal or plant species that lack commercial value and live in only one state. In GDF Realty Investments v. Norton, the presence of six species of endangered insects that live only in caves and sinkholes within two Texas counties had thwarted developers' plans to build an office, apartment and retail complex on a piece of ground west of Austin. In refusing to hear the case, the Supreme Court let stand earlier court rulings, which cited the interdependence of all species and potential for species to have as-yet-unknown uses. So ends a hard-fought property rights battle that had attracted much attention for its potential to establish the unconstitutionality of some applications of ESA enforcement. Read more about it in the Houston Chronicle. [return to top]

Get the recognition your HBA deserves
by entering your community service effort or charitable project to win the National Housing Endowment/Home Builders Care Community Service Project of the Year Award for 2005. The winner will be celebrated at an awards ceremony during January's 2006 International Builders' Show in Orlando and will receive great publicity, a recognition plaque and a $5,000 donation to a charity of its choosing. Take a look online for past winners, and get details from Kym Kilbourne at x8447.  [return to top]

Looking Ahead: Two important upcoming events
 

The 3rd International Housing Conference of the Americas November 3-5 Four Seasons Hotel in Mexico City, Mexico

Make plans now to attend the 3rd International Housing Conference of the Americas. NAHB and CANADEVI (Mexico's National Industry Chamber for the Development and Promotion of Housing), are again providing this exciting forum for exchanging ideas, information and technology to help meet the housing needs of both our countries. Featuring educational panels, housing tours, exhibits, networking events and great guest speakers, the event is bound to expand your horizons. Visit our Web site for more info and to register for the conference, or contact NAHB's International Department (x8415).

The 2005 State & Local Government Affairs Conference November 17-19 Wyndham Buttes Resort in Phoenix, AZ

If you're interested in state and local legislative and regulatory issues, if you're an HBA staffer who lobbies on behalf of your association, or if you just want to keep up-to-date on the most pressing issues in our industry, be sure to sign up early for NAHB's State & Local Government Affairs Conference. This is a great venue for almost anyone in our industry, and we're sure you'll come away with news you can use. Contact Alex Strong (x8279) for more on our State & Local Affairs activities, or register online at your convenience.

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