Housing.com News, Analysis & Opinion: Friday Housing News

If you want a good first-hand look at how bad FEMAville life can get, take a look at this story from the path of Wilma. Just awful. And one valuable point--the influx of contractors to rebuild the businesses and homes is actually contributing to price increases of housing in the area, thus locking residents out. This absolutely needs to be watched as the building effort to get New Orleans and the Gulf Coast back on their feet begins.

I mentioned New Urbanism when discussing the possibility of a housing slump reviving dormant urban markets. Well, it seems that the architects of the Gulf Coast rebuilding effort have gone me one better, as the plans for the massive reconstruction project are advocating urban design principles for the construction.

And what's holding up the actual rebuilding itself? I'll give you a four-letter guess, and the first word is "F," as in "Eff you, Mike Brown!"

While the overall mood at the conclusion of the forum - at the Isle of Capri casino hotel in Biloxi - was upbeat, some architects expressed frustration that clear guidelines for rebuilding were not yet available from FEMA. During the forum, the architects had only advisory maps of so-called high-velocity zones to work from. "We spent a lot of time trying to understand the new FEMA rules," Mr. Duany said. "That has not been a satisfying experience."

"They say the rules will not be ready for 18 months," he added. "That's half of World War II. Forget it - you can't wait that long."

Unbelievable. This whole agency needs to be gutted and rebuilt from the bottom up if it is to have any credibility and usability in the future.

Builder Online finds September housing still on a roll. I guess it's this kind of rosy "Screw the bubble" thinking that leaves bubble watchers in a perpetual state of "Is it or isn't it" suspended animation. There's a larger picture to consider, however.

I posted on Wednesday that new housing construction is focusing on the Midwest, and even the most wildly divergent market reports agree that the markets are cooling in pricey regions like the Bay Area, the D.C. Metro area, and so on. Now, bear in mind that the President's Tax Reform Panel wanted to take a shot at limiting the mortgage-interest deduction to the highest levels of FHA-insured loans, somewhere around $312,000.

That would body slam the most expensive markets--which are mostly in "blue" states, Northern Virginia notwithstanding--and accelerate the drive for homebuilding in the Midwest. On the other hand, this would lower the rates for housing overall, which might reopen the market to priced-out buyers in red and blue states alike.

I don't think that there's any deliberate collusion at work here, but the patterns are fascinating to witness nonetheless.

Back to Builder Online--while perusing one of their "sister sites," Remodeling Online, I came across a little gem on how contractors can cancel building contracts. This is hilarious. Did you know that contractors can get out of the "right to rescind" notification rule if you sign a contract in an office, a showroom, or a store?

Whenever employing home improvement contractors, make sure to read up on both the FTC guidance and your own state's rules for contracting agreeements, and definitely do the actual signing in your home. Oh, and make sure to avoid any of those terrible mandatory binding arbitration clauses. They're pure poison.

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Courtesy of Housing Finance, it seems that the National Multi-Housing Council has finally caused FEMA to reevaluate its stance on housing Katrina and Rita evacuees in expensive hotels and nasty trailers while affordable housing sits vacant. While I'm fairly certain that the loud mainstream media outcry over this had a little something to do with it, kudos nonetheless go to the NMHC for spearheading the charge. Now we can finally get our fellow Americans into real homes, real apartments, with real chances to rebuild their lives and futures. If you want a good first-hand look at how bad FEMAville life can get, take a look at this story from the path of Wilma. Just awful. And one valuable point--the influx of contractors to rebuild the businesses and homes is actually contributing to price increases of housing in the area, thus locking residents out. This absolutely needs to be watched as the building effort to get New Orleans and the Gulf Coast back on their feet begins. I mentioned New Urbanism when discussing the possibility of a housing slump reviving dormant urban markets. Well, it seems that the architects of the Gulf Coast rebuilding effort have gone me one better, as the plans for the massive reconstruction project are advocating urban design principles for the construction. And what's holding up the actual rebuilding itself? I'll give you a four-letter guess, and the first word is "F," as in "Eff you, Mike Brown!" The money quote: While the overall mood at the conclusion of the forum - at the Isle of Capri casino hotel in Biloxi - was upbeat, some architects expressed frustration that clear guidelines for rebuilding were not yet available from FEMA. During the forum, the architects had only advisory maps of so-called high-velocity zones to work from. "We spent a lot of time trying to understand the new FEMA rules," Mr. Duany said. "That has not been a satisfying experience." He described the rules as ambiguous, complicated and tentative. "We still don't really know what can be built or not," he said. "It is frustrating. They need to be technically precise and quickly because people are anxious to get going and it's hard to tell what to do. "They say the rules will not be ready for 18 months," he added. "That's half of World War II. Forget it - you can't wait that long." Unbelievable. This whole agency needs to be gutted and rebuilt from the bottom up if it is to have any credibility and usability in the future. Builder Online finds September housing still on a roll. I guess it's this kind of rosy "Screw the bubble" thinking that leaves bubble watchers in a perpetual state of "Is it or isn't it" suspended animation. There's a larger picture to consider, however. I posted on Wednesday that new housing construction is focusing on the Midwest, and even the most wildly divergent market reports agree that the markets are cooling in pricey regions like the Bay Area, the D.C. Metro area, and so on. Now, bear in mind that the President's Tax Reform Panel wanted to take a shot at limiting the mortgage-interest deduction to the highest levels of FHA-insured loans, somewhere around $312,000. That would body slam the most expensive markets--which are mostly in "blue" states, Northern Virginia notwithstanding--and accelerate the drive for homebuilding in the Midwest. On the other hand, this would lower the rates for housing overall, which might reopen the market to priced-out buyers in red and blue states alike. I don't think that there's any deliberate collusion at work here, but the patterns are fascinating to witness nonetheless. Back to Builder Online--while perusing one of their "sister sites," Remodeling Online, I came across a little gem on how contractors can cancel building contracts. This is hilarious. Did you know that contractors can get out of the "right to rescind" notification rule if you sign a contract in an office, a showroom, or a store? Whenever employing home improvement contractors, make sure to read up on both the FTC guidance and your own state's rules for contracting agreeements, and definitely do the actual signing in your home. Oh, and make sure to avoid any of those terrible mandatory binding arbitration clauses. They're pure poison.