BUILDER NEWS How Construction Costs, Lot Prices Impacted Sales in 2017 A NAHB Launches Instagram Consumer Initiative T he NAHB is proud to announce a new consumer awareness initiative – and a great promotional opportunity for your projects – on the photo-sharing app Instagram. “This initiative is designed to build awareness among the home buying audience of the craftsmanship and innovation of NAHB members,” said NAHB Chairman Granger MacDonald. “We want Instagram’s 700 million monthly users to see how our members are building homes, enriching communities and changing lives.” Getting your company involved is simple: If you already have an Instagram account, just follow us @homebuilders and tag us in the pictures that you would like us to share. If you don’t have an Instagram account, you can submit your photos, along with a short description of the home or a story about the home owners for whom you built or remodeled the home, at nahb.org/photos. Either way, make sure to include the Instagram handle for other key people or companies that were involved in the project, along with photo credits. There are lots of possibilities: • Completed homes • Entire communities – including homes and amenities like trails and clubhouses • Furnished and/or staged rooms such as kitchens, baths, living rooms, master bathrooms, wine rooms and bars, outdoor areas • Before-and-after images Photo quality is key. Please submit professional photographs, or at least ones that are lighted appropriately. Photos that are dark, blurry or aren’t using a flattering angle cannot be used – and don’t make your product look good, anyway. Please note, if you’re submitting before-and-after photos, it’s okay if the “before” images aren’t taken by pros.Questions? We have answers. Please contact Camilo Cuba, NAHB senior brand marketing manager. Read More 18 HBRA of Fairfield County | DECEMBER 2017 ccording to a recent NAHB survey of home builders, construction costs account for 55.6% of the final sales price of the average new home, and 21.5% of the total sales price is attributed to the cost of the lot. Rising materials prices and limited labor have been primary concerns for builders throughout 2017, and those issues are expected to continue into next year as well. However, as NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz noted recently in Eye on Housing, recent figures for starts and sales are indicating continued growth is ahead. “Single-family starts (877,000) are at a post-recession high, and sales of new single-family homes sales rose 6% [in October], recording its strongest reading in a decade,” Dietz said. “Moreover, a rising share of new home sales is coming from homes that have not yet begun construction, pointing to additional gains for construction in the near term.” For more details about the survey and a breakdown of the average sales price, go to housingeconomics.com. Read More
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