Economy: Page 105
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Consultant slams doom-and-gloom housing scenarios
Former builder Charlie Scott has little patience for the media's sensationalist coverage of prospects of the housing market.
By Ron Gallagher • May 27, 2014 -
Investors see U.S. housing market as bad bet
Word from Wall Street is that the housing recovery is unlikely to get back its previous upward momentum.
By Ron Gallagher • May 26, 2014 -
US new-home sales rise 6.4% in April
Government reports show newly built homes were selling at an annualized pace of 433,000.
By Ron Gallagher • May 26, 2014 -
Will the rise in existing-home sales lead to more new-home buying?
Data from the National Association of Realtors shows that existing home sales began to come out of the winter slump that hit home building.
By Ron Gallagher • May 22, 2014 -
No good news yet from the design business (but perhaps soon)
The Architectural Billings Index stayed in negative territory in April, but a new measure of design contracts suggested billings will rise later this year.
By Ron Gallagher • May 21, 2014 -
Total construction starts up 3% in April
The overall gain came despite single-family homes hitting a sixth straight month of decreases and non-building construction falling off.
By Ron Gallagher • May 21, 2014 -
Jersey City program to start residents on construction careers
The city's mayor said he wanted residents working on projects in the community, and the Jersey City Employment and Training Program is recruiting candidates.
By Ron Gallagher • May 20, 2014 -
Grabbing global profit opportunities requires agility, quick learning
Construction opportunities outside the U.S. and western Europe can have higher profits, but the competition is intense and growing.
By Ron Gallagher • May 20, 2014 -
Fast growth leads to builders' opportunity
Towns that have boomed in population are showing slow housing growth, so there is demand aplenty.
By Ron Gallagher • May 19, 2014 -
New San Francisco terminal dulled down to fight budget creep
The Transbay Transit Center will have painted steel where it was to have stainless, and glass flecks are gone from the specs for walls and beams.
By Ron Gallagher • May 18, 2014 -
Fotolia
Florida touts biggest gain in US construction jobs over last year
A breakdown of new federal data on employment shows that from April 2013 to last month, the energy belt had three of the four biggest percentage gains in construction hiring.
By Ron Gallagher • May 16, 2014 -
Economists see housing sales, construction still in low gear
The population is growing faster than jobs and young people believe they cannot meet down payments.
By Ron Gallagher • May 15, 2014 -
More new workers coincide with more job-site injuries
Insurers say contractors and builders need to be careful with experienced workers whom they rehire after the workers have been away.
By Ron Gallagher • May 15, 2014 -
Big builders back from the bottom, but it's a changed world
The biggest companies, the "giants" of home building, have nicely recovered revenues, but they have had to adapt to changed conditions and demands.
By Ron Gallagher • May 14, 2014 -
New analysis puts U.S. home-prices rise at 11.3% in Q4
The CoreLogic Case-Shiller index of home prices calculated the increase when comparing the end of 2013 with the year-before period.
By Ron Gallagher • May 14, 2014 -
Why is innovation rare in nonresidential construction?
Data company FMI's Nonresidential Construction Index rose a bit for the current quarter, but productivity was down.
By Ron Gallagher • May 14, 2014 -
Unraveling the contradiction about first-time home buyers
Young people make up about the same percentage of first-time homebuyers as they have in the past. Yet they are buying fewer houses in total. What gives?
By Ron Gallagher • May 14, 2014 -
Obama to visit Tappan Zee Bridge work site
The president is making the Wednesday visit to the New York-area site to call on Congress to back his transportation package.
By Randy Lilleston • May 13, 2014 -
Gilbane: Total construction spending will end year up 6.6%
The contractor's quarterly report says its economy-watchers see spending rising after May.
By Ron Gallagher • May 12, 2014 -
Japan in same boat as U.S. with construction-worker shortages
Immigration remains a contentious issue in Japan, but contractors are feeling the pinch of not finding the domestic workers they need.
By Ron Gallagher • May 12, 2014 -
Report: Climate change damaging U.S. infrastructure
The new National Climate Assessment says weather extremes from climate change already are wreaking damage, with the effects expected to get worse in coming decades.
By Randy Lilleston • May 12, 2014 -
Corruption plagues construction for Brazil's World Cup
The world's second-most expensive soccer stadium is being built in a city with no real professional soccer team.
By Davide Savenije • May 12, 2014 -
LA's $5.7B construction budget moves forward
The proposed outlay is still over-budget, but less so than when it was first introduced.
By Davide Savenije • May 9, 2014 -
NAHB: Home building tax breaks vital for jobs
Testifying about job creation and what home building does, the builders' group urged Congress to preserve the mortgage-interest deduction and low-income tax credits.
By Ron Gallagher • May 7, 2014 -
Labor shortage hits Larimer County, CO
Builders and contractors who survived the recession needs tradesmen desperately, but there are few to be had in Larimer County.
By Ron Gallagher • May 7, 2014
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