2018 NAHB International Builders’ Show draws 85,000-plus
ORLANDO – (Realty News Report) – A crowd of more than 85,000 filled the exhibit halls of Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center Jan. 9-11 as the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) drew one of its largest turnouts in recent years at the NAHB International Builders’ Show.
Home building professionals from around the world attended this year’s IBS — the biggest component of annual Design & Construction Week, which also includes the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS).
Exhibit space for IBS covered 583,000 SF, where more than 1,500 exhibitors displayed the latest in building products and technology.
Dwelling in Texas Hill Country named ‘Home of the Year’
ORLANDO – Augusta, a 3,600-SF custom home with dramatic golf course views, was named Home of the Year in the Best in American Living Awards (BALA) at the NAHB International Builders’ Show.
The house, located in Boerne, Texas, west of San Antonio, was designed by Craig McMahon Architects Inc. and built by Johnny Canavan Custom Homes, both based in San Antonio.
Augusta’s balance of stone, wood, and metal opened up with floor-to-ceiling glass creates a stylish, modern residence reminiscent of historic Texas homes from the 1800s.
Potential home buyers stalled by lack of availability renovate instead, surveys say
ORLANDO — The lack of affordable, buildable lots and scarcity of labor affected home production in 2017. While starts increased by 9% over 2016, characteristics of these new homes stayed largely the same, say survey results from the National Association of Home Builders reported during the NAHB International Builders’ Show in Orlando.
The average home size, at 2,622 SF in 2016, was essentially unchanged in 2017, averaging 2,627 SF. Of these, 46% had four bedrooms or more compared to 45% in 2016; 37% had three full baths or more compared to 35% in 2016.
In addition, homeowners are staying in their residences longer, about 12 to 13 years, on average, and indicate they are anxious to make changes.
Meanwhile, there’s a potential market for “tiny houses.” The NAHB survey found that 53% of respondents might consider purchasing a home of 600 square feet or less.
Multifamily housing production enters ‘stable’ phase
ORLANDO — Although multifamily housing starts are expected to moderate slightly this year and next, production levels are projected to remain stable, in a range where “supply meets demand,” experts said during the National Association of Home Builders International Builders’ Show in Orlando.
Multifamily starts are expected to nudge 2% lower this year to 354,000 units from a projected 360,000 total in 2017 and fall another 3% to 344,000 in 2019.
NAHB Senior Economist Michael Neal noted this does not indicate weakness in this market segment. “From 1995 through 2005, multifamily starts averaged 335,000. Construction activity during the past four years has been running above this trend, and we are seeing the market stabilizing near more normal production levels.”
Meanwhile, the national rental vacancy rate registered a slight uptick last year, but stands at its low mid-1990s level of 7.5 percent.
The National Association of Home Builders is a Washington-based trade group representing more than 140,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction.