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Hardwood Floors Magazine - Official Magazine of the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA)                  

Interactive pages, table of contents and so much more. Want to know what's happening in the world? Check out the current issue. View issues online at www.hardwoodfloorsmag.com/issue/.

Hardwood Floors Magazine Reports:

 Wood Floor of the Year 2011

 

Builder Confidence Sees Gains for October

After hovering around 14-15 for the past three months, builder confidence in the market for newly built single family homes increased four points in  October, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. It was the largest one-month gain the index has seen since the home buyer  tax credit program helped spur the market in April of 2010. "Builder confidence regained some ground in October due to modest improvements in buyer interest in select markets where economic recovery  is starting to take hold and where foreclosure activity has remained comparatively subdued," said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen "That said, confidence remains quite low as builders continue to confront overly restrictive lending policies that are discouraging prospective buyers, problems with new-home appraisals and widespread uncertainty regarding federal support for homeownership." "This latest boost in builder confidence is a good sign that some pockets of recovery are starting to emerge across the country as extremely  favorable interest rates and prices catch consumers' attention," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "However, it's worth noting that while some builders have shifted their assessment of market conditions from 'poor' to 'fair,' relatively few have shifted their assessments from 'fair' to 'good. "One reason is that builders are facing downward pricing pressures from foreclosed homes at the same time that building materials costs are rising, and  this is further squeezing already tight margins." The component gauging current sales conditions rose four points to 18, the component gauging sales expectations in the next six months rose seven points to 24, and the component gauging traffic of prospective buyers rose three points to 14. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index asks builders to rate current home sales, sales expectations and buyer traffic. Scores from each  component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

Home Prices Rebound for First Time in Eight Months
For the first time in eight months home prices have risen, according to figures through April from the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices. Compared with figures from March, both the 10- and 20-city composite indices rose 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, in April, largely due to the annual spring buying flurry. Even with 13 of the 20 cities studied showing improvement, prices are still down 3.1 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively, from April 2010 levels.
“In a welcome shift from recent months, this month is better than last—April’s numbers beat March,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices. "However, the seasonally adjusted numbers show that much of the improvement reflects the beginning of the spring/summer home buying season. It is much too early to tell if this is a turning point or simply due to some warmer weather. "According to the Associated Press, since the housing bubble burst in 2006, prices have fallen more than they did during the Great Depression.

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