February column for Builder & Developer magazine now online

Greetings from the 2014 IBS!  Last night I got to tour The New American Home for this year in Henderson, Nevada.  More on this home and my visit in a separate blog post.

For now, my column for the February 2014 issue of Builder and Developer magazine is now posted online.

For this issue, entitled "The Road to Housing Recovery," I wanted to review why this housing recovery has seemed so anemic in comparison to previous ones.  An excerpt:

Although the housing rebound is definitely here to stay, a major source of frustration for many in our industry is the pace of sales compared with previous economic recoveries. Both housing starts and permits, which grew steadily throughout most of 2013, dipped in December versus November even as prices continued to rise, and there remains plenty of pent-up demand in the marketplace.

Meanwhile, builder confidence is taking a brief rest due to a combination of rising construction costs, a shortage of skilled homebuilding labor, too-low appraisals and a lending environment which continues to be skewed towards only the best candidates with near-perfect credit scores and reliable W-2 income. ..

To read the entire column, click here.

To read the entire February 2014 issue in digital format, click here.