Sales of newly built, single-family homes edged up 1.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000 units in November, according to newly released figures by the U.S. Commerce Department.  This marks the third consecutive monthly gain in new-home sales and the fastest pace of such activity since April.

Original Source – http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?newsID=14444

Regionally, new-home sales were mixed in November. The South and Midwest posted gains of 12.9 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively, while the Northeast and West posted respective declines of 26.3 percent and 16.9 percent. The inventory of new homes for sale fell 1.3 percent to 158,000 units in November. This is a new record low and represents a six-month supply at the current sales pace.

With that said, please join me in welcoming the newest member to the Truaire family, Kip Davies. I have known Kip for many years through his former position at JP Lamborn, as have many of you. Kip’s reputation, his knowledge, his experience, and his fresh perspective will prove to be invaluable assets for our organization.

Kip brings years of industry expertise to his new role as Marketing and Promotions Director. Kip and I share the same perspective and belief in a Customer Service oriented philosophy. As our success continues, Kip’s ability to coordinate a comprehensive approach to our marketing strategies makes this addition a great fit.

Kip will be working in the Santa Fe Springs office to help coalesce the efforts of Inside and Outside Sales. He will be working with Ken Grubbs’ sales team to coordinate Sales initiatives, Promotions, and Marketing Strategies.

In the weeks ahead we will be talking more about Kip’s role and how it blends with our sales team. We are thrlled to have him on board. Please extend Kip every courtesy and make him feel at home with this exciting new change.

-Yongki Yi

That was the question Fast Money Traders were preparing to ask Toll Brothers CEO Douglas Yearley Jr. ahead of his appearance on the Fast Money Halftime Report today.

Monday’s pending home sales data indicated a bottom is in.

The National Association of Realtors reported this morning that pending home sales rose in 2.1% in February. The news came as a surprise to many economists given the 16.9% drop in new home sales last month. Economists were expecting a drop of about 1% for pending home sales.

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Over the Worst?
So what gives us hope the intermediate term may yield a more stable picture than the past several years? Mainly that new supply injected into the market over the past several years has been so constricted there’s likely significantly fewer surplus homes in existence today. Sound absurd? Well, Figure 2 shows the degree to which actual new housing has been curtailed over the past several years.

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That was $1.07 million more than the $23.58 million worth of new home construction the city issued permits for in 2009. The number of permits for new single-family homes was up by 10 in 2010, rising from 151 in 2009 to 161 this past year.

“Based on inquires we are getting, I feel like things are starting to pick up,” Cummings said last week. “While there has been activity in the past year, a lot of it was for in-fill projects.”

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We are currently working on adding the product line of  Tru Aire decorative registers to our website.

Developed for Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, the ASHRAE Standard 62.1 app allows for convenient calculations while in the field, performing the outdoor air calculations found in the Ventilation Rate Procedure and the interactive 62MZCalc spreadsheets contained in the ASHRAE User’s Manual for Standard 62.1, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality.

“As a leader in the advancement of the latest HVAC&R technology, it’s only right that we utilize the latest smart phone technology,” Jim Fields, volunteer head of ASHRAE’s publishing activities, said. “This new application ensures that engineers in the field have instant access to the most accurate information without having to return to their office to perform calculations.”

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“This law is a significant advancement for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of our nation’s federal buildings,” Lynn G. Bellenger, ASHRAE president, said. “ASHRAE applauds the federal government for demonstrating what can be accomplished in building and maintaining energy efficient buildings with excellent indoor environmental quality.”

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Hoover, president of Harmony Homes of Windsor, knows he is taking a bit of a risk building them as spec homes — or empty homes without ready buyers. But he’s banking on a couple of lucky charms: Greeley’s housing market in the $200,000-plus range is sputtering back to life, and the thousands of new jobs headed to this area in the next year are bound to help drive demand.

Tim Swanson, Greeley’s chief building official, said when you take out the enormous number of new roofs on homes this year, plus the Leprino plant construction, Greeley building permits rose roughly 2 percent to 3 percent. That includes commercial construction, as well as home remodels, which builders have been relying on to stay afloat. “Even when I backed all that out, there was 2-3 percent across the board increase in permits,” Swanson said. “It’s just enough to where we’re not into the freefall. I’ll certainly take that over a 10 percent decrease.”
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Facility managers know that major HVAC upgrades can be some of the most difficult projects of their professional careers. There exists tremendous potential for workplace disruption, unanticipated equipment challenges and the wide-ranging opinions from building occupants over the definition of comfort — a factor that should never be underestimated. But a healthy implementation plan, open communication between tenants and service providers, and realistic expectations can prevent HVAC equipment installation from being a bane.

When planning major replacements of HVAC equipment, facility managers should consider the age of equipment, repair history and cost, potential impact of downtime on critical business functions, indoor air quality benefits accomplished by the upgrade, estimated energy efficiency anticipated from new equipment, refrigerant requirements (plus any known or anticipated phase-outs), future expansion or renovation plans for a particular building (including re-roofing), utility company energy rebate programs, plus any state or federal tax benefits that result from the change.

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