The U.S. Government has taken a crack at revitalizing the housing market with the federal housing tax credit which seems to have had a positive effect, but with the tax credit opportunity (possibly) coming to an end, what are home builders going to do to sustain recent activity and secure a painless recovery?

Here is a quick look at what the nation’s top builders (according to Builder Magazine 2008 rankings) are offering to entice prospective buyers:

1. D.R. Horton – Capitalizing on the company’s history, the first thing that visitors notice when they visit the Horton Web site is their 30 years of experience.  History, coupled with an impressive portfolio of homes, headline this page.  With no frills, D.R. Horton spends most of their efforts on helping customer financially fit into their home. They do make it easy to find their homes, and have an abundance of details on each listing.

2. Pulte – During these times where overall confidence in national builders looks to be on the rise, Pulte urges visitors to their site to “Make Your Move” then addresses head on some tricky real estate topics such as purchase of foreclosed homes, renting vs. owning and financial lending.  This is another builder that has dedicated space one click from the home page to the history of the company.  We’re really intrigued by the unique branding strategy that was developed as a result of the merger.

Bloomberg News

3. Centex – Playing off the current historic low interest rates, Centex is running the “New Address for Less Event” nationally.  This promotion combines low interest rates with low prices from Centex for low monthly payments.  The Energy Advantage™ is Centex’s answer to energy savings with nine energy-efficient features.  They claim their homes are 40% more energy efficient than typical 10-year-old homes.

4. Lennar – Probably the most cutting edge of the top 5 builder’s sites, Lennar has a sharply designed site complete with LennarOnline, their YouTube channel, cruise contest and a rewards program.  The Logic of Lennar flash video provides a look at top features you can find within these homes nationwide.  Another interesting feature on their site is the Quick Move-IN Homes.  A search portal to find homes ready for “immediate enjoyment” or those currently under construction is an interesting new approach to how they describe their inventory.  Lennar is also leading the digital homebuilder charge with an established, successful Twitter feed (almost 59,000 followers) and a loyal Facebook following cultivated through creative contests.

5. KB Home – KB Home probably has some of the more flashy promotions and partnerships in place.  Things like Martha Stewart communities (because who wouldn’t want to live in a home promoted by Martha?), and the Disney Dream Rooms are available for those kids, both big and small, who want a bedroom that announces a favorite Disney Princess or Cars character.  KB Home’s offers energy efficiency options with the “My Home, My Earth” program.  All new home communities opened in 2009 and beyond will be built to ENERGY STAR® guidelines.

Will approaches like those listed above be enough to keep America’s largest builders afloat?  It’s difficult to say, but increasing visibility online is a great place to begin – that’s where their prospective buyers are.  Hopefully homebuyer confidence will continue to increase, mortgage rates will remain low and features like energy efficient appliances are enough to keep customers walking through the door or the prospects for 2010 won’t be getting better anytime soon.

• View From the Top: Performance of the Top National Homebuilders
• Big Green Builders
• Is the Stock Market a Good Indicator of Housing Recovery?

Flooring

• @FindAnyFloor – A popular destination for anything flooring (and that includes green)
• @flooracle – Follow Jim Birch for flooring tutorials, articles and videos; learn about wood floor finishes, floor sanding, installation and more.
• @BuildDirect – This online manufacturer-wholesaler of flooring and building materials posts a variety multimedia assets.
• @iFLOOR – Simply put: Flooring that fits life, home, budget.
• @bpscarpet – A leading manufacturer of floor coverings for commercial applications.

Landscape

• @Land8 – Join this premier social network for landscape architects – over 1,000 followers and counting.
• @TOPLINEMULCH – See what this manufacturer of color rubber mulch has to say in 140 characters or less.
• @wlandscapearch – A second location from WorldLandscape Architect for all the news, events, and interesting information for built environmental professionals.
• @svrdesign – This integrated firm specializes in innovative and sustainable solutions in civil engineering, landscape architecture, planning and environmental restoration.
• @landLAB – With only a few followers, landLAB has potential with its relevant, timely tweets.

And because everything starts from the ground up, it’s likely we’ll be talking about it too – @BuildIntel, and our green building expert @GreenIntel

• Build with #followfriday

In this economy struggling for air, companies will continue to proclaim “ground-breaking” and “sustainable” in one breath, and for many rightly so. But we know that some companies will always have a future to look forward to (at least we expect them to) and the reason is simple – they provide the building materials we can’t live without, literally.

Take a look at our checklist below (along with leading suppliers/manufacturers) and let us know if you would add to it and why. This is a great exercise to bring us all “back to basics.”

Brick/masonry

• Boral Bricks (Boral Bricks is an IMRE client)
• Acme Brick Company
• Lafarge

Glass

• AGC Flat Glass North America
• Rayoteck
• Schott
  

PVC pipe

• CertainTeed
• North American Pipe Corporation
• Contech Construction Products

Drywall

• American Gypsum
• Georgia-Pacific
• United States Gypsum

Vinyl products

• Chemtura Corporation
• Ferro Corporation
• Teknor Apex Company

Insulation

• Owens Corning
• Icynene
• Johns Manville
  

Steel

• Nucor Corporation
• TAMCO
• North Star BlueScope

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Urban Blueprint

“Multifamily builders are beginning to see slight improvement in the current market for new rental and for-sale units, and anticipate even better times in the next six months,” said David Crowe, NAHB’s chief economist. “The components of the index measuring customer interest rose significantly; the index level calls from prospective renters rose 14 points, to 50.9, and the index reflecting traffic in prospective condo buyers jumped 25 points.”

The news reported by NAHB on Tuesday also states that “the near future appears more promising to builders than any time since the first quarter of 2008.”

A recent Newsweek article does not paint the same picture of confidence, stating, “U.S. housing starts hit a record low, dropping 12.8% in April, to an annual pace of 458,000. Housing starts are down 79.9% from their peak in January 2006. A sharp drop in construction of multifamily dwellings drove the reading, with single-family starts actually up 2.8%.”

The demand for multifamily rental dwellings is still seeing high vacancy rates, however the MRMI and MCMI are reporting higher numbers for calls from prospective renters after low reporting for two consecutive quarters, including condo traffic.

David Crowe continues, “the stock of existing homes for rent and for sale is greater than the consumer demand right now, and is in direct competition with new supply. As that inventory is absorbed, and is new households form during the economic recovery, the demand for multifamily rentals will rise, and production will return to a more ‘normal’ level.”

It will be interesting to see if the next couple months continue to show the same progress in prospective renters/owners or if this confidence is just wishful thinking.

• Economists are Optimistic about the Future of the Housing Market
• Americans Taking Advantage of the Reinvestment (Act)

Factory-built housing, which includes manufactured, modular, panelized and pre-cut homes, are getting a lot of attention these days, partially due to the recently unveiled, industrial-chic Clayton i-house. But beyond what’s hot today, the builder and dweller alike will find that this type of quality, affordable housing is a sensible alternative in the face of the current housing crisis.

As manufactured housing continues to prove itself as an industry mainstay, keep these considerations top of mind:

1. Housing affordability continues to shift, but today’s factory-built housing ranges in price from 10 to 35 percent less per square foot than conventional site-built homes*. Providing comparable, if not better, quality and performance, savings like these give more Americans the opportunity to own a home.
2. Extending savings beyond just the home purchase, more manufactured homes are including ENERGY STAR-labeled products and appliances, which homeowners seek in order to capture significant savings while residing in the home.
3. Advancements in technology mean factory-built housing is no longer “cookie cutter.” Manufactured home builders have the flexibility to offer unique architectures and finishes to make a home one-of-a-kind. According to the Manufactured Housing Institute, two-story and single-family attached homes are two new styles growing in popularity.
4. “It’s the economy” that now has recession-driven incentives available to help entice buyers with this housing option. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 included manufactured housing as a type of home that will qualify for a tax credit.
5. Quality and cost control is manageable from the factory to the jobsite. All materials, down to finishes and appliances, offer savings because they are purchased in volume, and weather is not an interference to halt construction or cause damage to inventory.

Portland Monthly Magazine

*Manufactured Housing Institute

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Don Ryan/AP Photo

There’s a new target emerging for today’s home builders. With this week’s chatter about a possible slowdown to the recession, move-up home buyers should seriously reconsider that dream home they’ve had their eyes on for months. The home that once seemed “out of question” expensive for many may now be within reach with the decline in home pricing, but who knows for just how long. Opportunistic home builders and real estate agents take notice.

Growing families who may be nearing their space limits in their starter home have a big decision on their hands. Do they take advantage of the depressed market with a move to a higher priced home or stay put in a home that may not meet all their needs any longer?

“Now may be an ideal time for any family looking to upgrade from their starter home to one more suited to their current of future needs,” said Joe Robson, chairman of the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) and a home builder form Tulsa, OK. “Buyers are able to get more home for their money by taking advantage of current prices and interests rates, along with the bargaining power that comes from the large number of homes on the market.”

The better, but not always bigger, house is a great goal to work toward, but the existing house is also still a huge point of contention for many. Sellers may need to give a little and take a hit on their new home. They may not get back all that they paid, but in the end, the successful move-up buyer will revel in their good decisions.

Like many of today’s home builders, the homeowners are making concessions of their own to move inventory. “Obviously, if you’re selling for less than you could have gotten two years ago, you’re disappointed, but you really need to look at your bottom line,” said Walt Molony of the National Association of Realtors. “If you’re trying to trade up, whatever you’re going to trade up to is going to sell at a discount, too. You need to look at your net.”

The $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit will expire on November 30, 2009 and is a great excuse to find that deluxe apartment in the sky-y-y or new family home right around the corner. The NAHB and other groups are pushing the use of the tax credit, and helping to extend it, with good reason. And for those not looking to build, move-up buyers will likely provide new business opportunities for remodelers who can help make that existing home they just purchsed their own.

• Harebrained Ideas for Home Builders
• A Second Take on the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Expiration
• Big Green Builders
• Looking Ahead to The International Builders’ Show
• Appraised to Sell?

Complements of Galley Eco Capital

Here’s the hottest 10 sectors for green jobs:
1. Advanced biofuels
2. Building retrofitting
3. Geothermal energy
4. Green chemistry
5. Green manufacturing
6. Smart grid
7. Solar energy
8. Sustainable agriculture
9. Sustainable green retailing
10. Wind energy

Here’s a taste of what’s to come:

Building retrofitting
The Obama administration wants to retrofit 10 million homes every year until 2020. At that rate, the industry could sustain about 1.25 million jobs directly and about 6 million jobs indirectly.

Jobs: Home performance specialists, energy auditors, managers, marketers, mechanical engineers, retrofitting directors, construction managers, retrofitters trained in multi-disciplines and software engineers.

Green manufacturing
Advocates contend that every $1 million invested in renewable energy systems creates about five full-time component manufacturing jobs. Every $1 million invested in energy-efficiency programs creates three to four building-material manufacturing jobs and five energy-efficient appliance manufacturing jobs.

Jobs: Factory workers, health and safety officers, managers, machine tool operators, machinists, pipefitters, quality control technicians, sales managers, team assemblers and welders.

Smart Grid
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law on Feb. 17, included more than $11 billion for investments in a new smart grid, investments that will create thousands of miles of new or modernized high-tech transmission lines, while training and employing highly skilled and well-paid line workers.

Jobs: Contractors, electrical engineers, electricians, line workers, programmers and suppliers.

Green jobs have become a mantra of hope for many, with organizations like Van Jones’ Green For All organization. It’s dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty and believes a shift to a clean, green economy can improve the health and well being of low-income people.

Additional great resources for greening your career path:

Green Collar Blog

Green Jobs

More Green Jobs

@greenjobs

• Are There Human Benefits in Smart Grid?

If you can’t make it don’t worry, we’ll bring some highlights to you.

• 34 Minutes Well Spent: Social Media Policy Webinar
• Social Media Marketing School with Dan Zarrella
• Sessions with Social Media
• Social Marketing: The Overlooked Victim of the Housing Crash
• Social Marketing Stars: Imad Naffa

Credit markets are starting to thaw and stock prices are rising. Other home builders that traded higher Monday included:

• Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. up 13% to $2.68
• Standard Pacific Corp. up 10% to $2.03
• Ryland Group Inc. up 5% to $24.35
• Lennar up 3% to $10.25

And the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index Fund is up 30% so far in April.

It’s certainly good news to hear the word stable when associated with a home builder, or for that matter, the word home. Last week, Moody’s increased its outlook on Lennar to stable, making it the only builder to have that rating. It might be a good time to buy a home, but is it time you to start buying in to home builders? We shall think and observe.

Novinite Ltd. File Photo

• Are You Ready for a Healthy Housing Market?
• Social Marketing: The Overlooked Victim of the Housing Crash
• Homebuilders Cruise on with New Marketing Strategies
• Big Green Builders

Adam Ostrow with Mashable (great social media resource) highlighted some significant new social site developments from March:

• Ning, which recently announced that more than one million social networks have been created using its service, is currently the 2nd fastest growing social networking property. Its traffic is up 283 percent year-over-year, and it now reaches a total of 5.6 million people in the US.

• Bebo, which we recently reported saw a one month surge of nearly 50 percent on the heels of a redesign and AIM integration, has grown 148 percent in the past year, and now reaches more than 6.1 million people in the US.

• LinkedIn continues to be one of the quickest growing social sites and has more than doubled its size in the past year. It now reaches better than 15.8 million people in the US, ranking it 3rd in total size behind Facebook and MySpace. It’s no doubt being buoyed by the weak economy and high unemployment as people turn to the site and their connections to find work.

This doesn’t mean that because there are several popular options you join them all. Each one separately serves different demographics. Do your homework. There are a lot of resources that profile each network’s membership, like Quantcast for example. And spend some time on the different networks getting to understand how your audience could benefit from your involvement. Companies like Home Depot and Lenar and have been recognized for their accomplishments. Briggs & Straton is giving it a try now too.

Jason Falls with the Social Media Explorer reminds us that it takes a commitment, both time and money, and consistency to be successful with social media. With Word of Mouth marketing comes a lot of responsibility. Dipping your toe in the water is refreshing, but if you splash the other person be prepared to get in the water.

Read Adam’s complete post at http://mashable.com/2009/04/20/the-fastest-growing-social-sites/.

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