Lots in 2015 are Smallest on Record

The median lot size of a new single-family detached home sold in 2015 dropped under 8,600 square feet for the first time since Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction started tracking the series.

An acre is 43,560 square feet, so the current median lot size is just under one-fifth of an acre. In 2014, Paul Emrath used a football field analogy to help visualize the median lot size that proved to be very popular. So using a football field as a measuring stick, 5.6 median lots would fit between the goal lines of a football field in 2015.

While nation’s lots are getting smaller on average, the regional differences in lot sizes persist. Looking at single-family (attached and detached) speculatively built (or spec) homes started in 2015, the median lot size in New England exceeds half an acre. This is 2.6 times larger than the national median lot.

New England is known for strict local zoning regulations that often require very low densities. Therefore, it is not surprising that more than half of single-family spec homes started in New England are built on some of the largest lots in the nation, with more than half of the lots exceeding half an acre.

The East South Central Division comes as a distant second with the median lot occupying less than a third of an acre. The Pacific division where densities are high and developed land is scarce has the smallest lots, with half of the lots being under 0.15 acres. The neighboring Mountain and West South Central Divisions also report typical lots smaller than a national median, 0.17 and 0.16 acres, respectively.

The analysis above was limited to single-family speculatively built homes. Custom homes built on owner’s land with either the owner or a builder acting as the general contractor do not involve the work of a professional land developer subdividing a property. Therefore, in case of custom homes, lots refer to owner’s land area rather than lots in conventional sense. Nevertheless, the SOC reports lot sizes for custom homes and shows that they tend to have larger lots. The median lot size for custom single-family homes started in 2015 was exactly one acre.

For this analysis, the median lot size was chosen over average since averages tend to be heavily influenced by extreme outliers. In addition, the Census Bureau often masks extreme lot sizes and values on the public use Survey of Construction dataset making it difficult to calculate averages precisely but medians remain unaffected by these procedures.

Learn How to Use Houzz at Houzz University August 18th

Houzz is a social media platform designed for consumers who want to build or remodel their home by bringing all of the experts in the industry together in one place. It allows builders, designers, realtors, etc. to reach potential clients by digitizing their portfolio, allowing for consumer and colleague reviews, and answering questions directly related to past or current projects.

Your Home Builders Association of Greenville has a partnership with Houzz that allows members access to special programs, and to verify their membership with the Home Builders Association of Greenville as well as the National Association of Home Builders on their Houzz profile.

If all of this sounds like gibberish to you, then you should strongly consider attending our Houzz University class on August 18th, where a Houzz professional will help you set up your profile. On the other hand, if you have a Houzz page already and want to learn how to improve it, you should attend the second class, Houzz Tips, Tricks, and Trends.

Program Details
August 18th, 2016 at the Home Builders Association of Greenville office. The classes will be taught by a Houzz agent and sponsored by the Approved Professional Builder program. Pricing will be as follows: $13 for PWB and SMC Council members, $19 for HBA members, $25 for nonmembers.

7:30-9 a.m. - Houzz University, includes breakfast

9:30-10:30 a.m. - Houzz Tips, Tricks, and Trends, includes breakfast

11:30-1 p.m. - Houzz University, includes lunch

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FHFA House Price Index Up 0.2 Percent in May

From the Federal Housing Finance Agency:

U.S. house prices rose in May, up 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency monthly House Price Index. The previously reported 0.2 percent increase in April was revised upward to reflect a 0.3 percent increase.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency monthly House Price Index is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. From May 2015 to May 2016, house prices were up 5.6 percent.

For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from April 2016 to May 2016 ranged from -1.3 percent in the New England division to +1.2 percent in the Mountain division. The 12-month changes were all positive, ranging from +3.4 percent in the Middle Atlantic division to +8.5 percent in the Mountain division.

Monthly index values and appreciation rate estimates for recent periods are provided in the table and graphs on the following pages. Complete historical downloadable data and House Price Index release dates are available on the House Price Index page.

​For detailed information on the House Price Index, see Frequently Asked Questions. The next House Price Index report will be released August 24, 2016 and will include monthly data through June 2016 and quarterly data for the second quarter of 2016.

Congratulations to Bob Barreto

Your Home Builders Association of Greenville's President Elect, Bob Barreto of GBS Building Supply, has recently been named to the Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity.  Since 1960, your Home Builders Association has always endeavored to improve our community and we are proud that our association leaders are also committed to the cause.

Congratulations, Bob!

John McLeod Retires

John McLeod, Chief Building Official for Greenville County, announced his retirement back in June, leading Greenville County and the Home Builders Association to host a reception in his honor last Thursday. Local builders joined together to wish John a happy retirement and thank him for his years of service to the industry. Thank you to everyone who attended and thank you to John for everything he has done for housing in Greenville!

Wayne Moore of Harold Moore Builders wishes John a happy retirement.

Michael Dey Elected as President of the Executive Officers Council

Your Home Builders Association of Greenville's Chief Executive Officer Michael Dey recently attended the Association Leadership Institute in San Antonio where he was officially elected as the President of the Executive Officers Council of the National Association of Home Builders.

He gave his acceptance speech and proudly represented Greenville at this national event. We are lucky to have such a great leader in our association!

Michael also accepted the Association of Excellence's 2015 Best HBA Partnership/Coalition Award for our partnership with the Greater Greenville Association of REALTORS and Upstate Mortgage Lenders Association in producing the Housing Market Forecast.

Compare Your Employee Compensation Against Industry Standards

Get an inside look at building industry employee compensation trends across the country with the newly released study conducted by the National Association of Home Builders Economics & Housing Policy Group: The 2014 Single-Family Builder Compensation Study.

Published by National Association of Home Builders BuilderBooks, the study provides compensation and benefits data for 39 common positions at single-family home building companies. The study shows average total compensation and the prevalence of benefits offered to each position by:

• geographic region
• 2014 dollar volume
• number of single-family units started in 2013
• number of employees on payroll

The study is based on data collected in July 2014 from builders across the country. It’s divided into two sections that present the survey findings from different perspectives:
Compensation and Benefits across 39 Positions—a broad view of the full-time positions at single-family building companies as well as a comparison of total compensation and benefits across positions.

• Compensation and Benefits by Position—a detailed view of each position’s average compensation and benefits.
• Results from this survey provide single-family builders with up-to-date information that can be used to benchmark their employees’ level of compensation and benefits.

The 2014 Single-Family Builder Compensation Study is available at BuilderBooks.com or by calling 800-223-2665. It costs $79.95 for National Association of Home Builders members and $149.95 retail.

The eBook format available at ebooks.builderbooks.com allows readers to view the study directly on their computer, iPad and Android. The price: $55.99 for National Association of Home Builders members, $89.99 retail.