Builder: Mungo Company named America's Best Builder

The Mungo Company has been named 2012 America's Best Builder in the category with the highest number of closings.  Four categories are honored in the America's Best Builder program.

Read the entire release on the America's Best Builder honor of the Mungo Company at mungo.com by clicking here.

Greenville News: Gordon Seay feature

The Greenville News featured HBA member Gordon Seay in its Christmas Eve edition last week.  Seay is the new president of the South Carolina Realtors Association.  Gordon has held various posts with the HBA of Greenville, including service as an ex officio advisory member of the HBA Board of Directors.  He currently serves on the HBA Legislative Committee.

Read the entire Greenville News article about Gordon Seay at SCRealtors.org by clicking here.

BuilderOnline: 81 percent of Americans Say Homeownership is Still Part of the American Dream

A recent survey by Yahoo! Real Estate found that 81 percent of American still consider homeownership art of the American Dream.  In addition , 74 percent consider buying a home a good investment.

Read the results of the Yahoo! survey at BuilderOnline.com by clicking here.

NewGeography: South Dominates U.S. Population Growth

Population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau show that Southern states continue to dominate the country in terms of population and growth during the last year.  According to New Geography, Southern states accounted for more than half of the population growth from 2000 to 2011 while having just one third of the country's total population.  In fact, 95 percent of all migration between states resulted in migration to Southern states.

Read the entire report a NewGeography.com by clicking here.

ABC: Slow Growth in Commercial Construction in 2012

Associated Builders and Contractors, a trade group representing commercial construction interests, predicts slow growth in commercial construction activity in 2012.  Nonresidential construction spending is expect to increase 2.4 percent in 2012 following a decline of 2.4 percent in 2011.

Read the entire report at GSABusiness.com by clicking here.

Federal Reserve: South Carolina and Michigan have the best economic outlooks

According to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, South Carolina is one of two states that are expected to a growth rate of 4.5 percent or better in the Fed's coincident index, or gross state product, in the first six months of 2012.

Both South Carolina and Michigan top the Fed's list of prospects for rapid growth in the next few months.  Both state's have experienced significant improvements in employment.

The Greenville News reported on this story over the weekend.  Read their report at greenvilleonline.com by clicking here.

NPR's Planet Money: 2 million construction jobs lost in recession; only 1 million coming back

NPR's Planet Money, with the assistance of Economist Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute, recently looked at the construction jobs lost over the last 4 years and estimated the number that will likely come back when the economy improves.  Their finds are striking: 2 million jobs were lost, or a quarter of all construction jobs, and only half will come back.  What is even more striking is that while construction makes up just 5.6 percent of total jobs in America, they make up more than 30 percent of the jobs lost.

Read the entire report at NPR.org's Planet Money blog by clicking here.