The Deadline for the EPA Lead Paint-Re-certification Extension is Coming Up

The issue: An estimated 380,000 remodelers and others who must re-up their Lead-Safe Certifications from the Environmental Protection Agency to comply with its Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting (LRRP) rule are staring at some important deadlines.

NAHB Remodelers Chairman Robert Criner met with White House officials Monday to, again, plead the industry’s case for a simplified re-certification process for NAHB members and others who do work in homes with lead paint.

March 31, 2016, marks the end of an unprecedented extension granted last year for some of these remodelers. It’s the deadline by which those remodelers and other contractors who received their EPA Lead-Safe Certified Renovator certifications on or before March 31, 2010, must complete a refresher training course to maintain their status.

After March 31, 2016, the clock resumes ticking for the second phase of renovators, one day at a time. Those who became certified between April 1, 2010, and March 31, 2011, must be re-certified within six years from the date they completed the original training course.

The extension did not apply to renovators operating under one of the 14 state-delegated programs.

Complicating matters is the uncertainty of regulatory action regarding re-certification training requirements.

A draft final rule – proposed by the EPA and supported by your Home Builders Association – to remove the hands-on training requirement is pending review by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). When Criner met with OMB officials Jan. 11 in Washington, D.C., he urged them to expedite review and finalization of this common-sense improvement to the LRRP rule.

Without this regulatory action, the first wave of remodelers who received their initial certification on or before March 31, 2010, must renew their EPA Lead-Safe Certified Renovator certifications with in-person refresher training by March 31, 2016.

Your Home Builders Association will inform members immediately when the agency issues its final regulation on re-certification training.

If you were certified by March 31, 2010, or live in one of 14 delegated states that have their own unique set of rules, use and share this map to help you through the lead paint regulatory maze.

Home Builder and Remodeler Cost Breakdown

An analysis of the latest Economic Census data by NAHB economist Natalia Siniavskaia shows that, on average, residential construction establishments were able to cover their hard and soft construction costs and generate positive profits in 2012.

The 2012 data show that the direct costs of construction – consisting of construction payroll, costs of construction work subcontracted out to others, and costs for materials/supplies – vary from 65% of total revenue of specialty trade contractors to 87% of the business receipts of multifamily general contractors without land costs. For single-family general contractors (who build on land customers own), the direct costs of construction consume on average 81% of the total revenue.

For single-family general contractors, 7% of total business receipts go to pay wages of construction workers. Specialty trade contractors, who maintain larger construction payrolls and subcontract out a minimum amount of work, spend on average 19% of total revenue on construction payroll.

In sharp contrast, multifamily general contractors who subcontract out most of the work, spend only 3% on the construction payroll. Their biggest expenditure is the cost of construction work subcontracted out to others, 63% of the total revenue. This far exceeds the typical spending by single-family general contractors on subcontractors, which amounts to 36% of outlays.

For a more detailed breakdown, click here.

Thank you to our terrific volunteers!

This past Saturday, January 9, was a wonderful day for our Community Service Committee, Rebuild Upstate, and especially for one of our Greenville neighbors. Ms. Ruthie Jones is an elderly woman whose home was in need of repair and rejuvenation. Andrew Woodford, APB, of ABW Construction, donated his time and tools to lead our team of volunteers in repairing Ms. Ruthie's stairs and building her a ramp. McGee Brothers will also be stopping by Ms. Ruthie's home this week to pour a concrete path from her driveway to her new ramp. Thank you to both companies for their donations and to all of our wonderful volunteers for their hard work.
Below are the members and friends of the HBA who volunteered:

Nick Kulick

Tuck Williams

Sarah Noel Ratcliff

Gabe Halka

Rachel Halka

Jeff Vanderwood

Andrew Woodford

Johannes Erdmann

Crystal Yanes

Abbey West

Although it was cloudy, the weather was mild and the rain held off long enough for us to complete the project and enjoy each other's company.

The stairs before construction began--rickety, old, and mildewy, making them slippery and dangerous.

The back yard before the ramp and walkway were added.

Andrew and his team begin the planning process.

Removing the old stairs and preparing for the new.

Everyone had a job while preparing to start construction of the ramp.

The ramp completed!

The final touches being put on the stairs.

New Home Sales Rise 4.3% in November

Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 490,000 units in November, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.

“It is encouraging to see new-home sales continue to tick upward,” said NAHB Chairman Tom Woods. “Builders are also increasing their inventory even as they face difficulties accessing lots and labor.”

Regionally, sales rose 20.5% in the West and 4.5% in the South. Sales fell 28.6% in the Northeast and 8.6% in the Midwest.

“Limited gains in new-home sales can be attributed to a weak existing sales report,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “People who already own a house comprise most of the new residential construction market, and they often must sell their existing home before making another purchase.”

The inventory of new homes for sale was 232,000 units in November. This is a 5.7-month supply at the current sales pace. This increase in new home sales shows the continuation of growth in the industry.

FHFA: Mortgage Interest Rates Fall in November

Nationally, interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages decreased from October to November, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's mortgage rate index.

The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders Index was 3.85 percent for loans closed in late November, down 4 basis points from 3.89 percent in October.

The average interest rate on all mortgage loans was 3.86 percent, down 4 basis points from 3.90 in October.

The average interest rate on conventional, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages of $417,000 or less was 4.08 percent, down 4 basis points from 4.12 in October.

The effective interest rate on all mortgage loans was 4.01 percent in November, down 3 basis points from 4.04 percent in October. The effective interest rate accounts for the addition of initial fees and charges over the life of the mortgage.

The average loan amount for all loans was $319,800 in November, up $11,200 from $308,600 in October.

FHFA House Price Index Up 0.5 Percent in October

U.S. house prices rose in October, up 0.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) monthly House Price Index (HPI). The previously reported 0.8 percent increase in September was revised downward to reflect a 0.7 percent increase.

The FHFA HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. From October 2014 to October 2015, house prices were up 6.1 percent.

For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from September 2015 to October 2015 ranged from -0.5 percent in the New England division to +1.2 percent in the East South Central division. The 12-month changes were all positive, ranging from +2.9 percent in the New England division to +8.9 percent in the Mountain division.

Welcome to Our 2016 Board of Directors

After the nominations had been submitted, our 2016 Board of Directors were approved and elected at our Annual Membership Meeting earlier this month, with Joe Hoover leading as President.  Thank you to our 2015 President Susan Peace-Vernon and the wonderful Board that accompanied her as they worked together on public policy initiatives, strengthening the Approved Professional Builder/Remodeler Program, and community service projects that directly assisted families in the Upstate. We are excited to see the 2016 Board work just as hard on improving our industry and association in the new year.

Newly Elected 2016 Board of Directors-Officers:
President, Joe Hoover, APB, Hoover Custom Construction
President Elect, Bob Barreto, GBS Building Supply
Vice President, James Speer, APB, Carson Speer Builders

Newly Elected 2016 Board of Directors-Members:
Ben Moseley, Heirloom Stair & Iron
Alan Wilson, Clark's Termite and Pest Control
Matt Shouse, APB, LS Homes
Matt Ruth, APB, Mobius Construction
Thomas Dillard, APB, Dillard-Jones Builders
Bill Kane, APB, Ryan Homes

Continuing on the Board of Directors:
Associate Vice-President, Jon Statom, Palmetto Exterminators
Immediate Past President, Susan Peace-Vernon, APB, Dillard-Jones Builders
Treasurer, Chuck Childress, BB&T
Secretary, Scott Warren, APB, Dunn Custom Builders