Other Price Pressures On Homebuilders [Housing Tracker]

Seeking Alpha's Housing Tracker is a collection of housing-related excerpts from various sources, grouped by topic. Feel free to post any interesting links on the subject in the comments section below.

Homebuilder Trends

Fire-Sprinkler Mandate Supported for New Homes.   “The International Code Council, which sets the residential building code used in 46 states at the state or local level, voted Sunday to make fire sprinklers mandatory in new one- and two-family homes and townhouses starting on Jan. 1, 2011… the National Association of Home Builders says there isn't enough evidence to support making sprinklers mandatory, which will also increase the cost of the home and require maintenance by homeowners… A study of 10 communities in the U.S. and Canada released earlier this month by the Fire Protection Research Foundation in Quincy, Mass., shows that sprinkler costs can vary depending on the community. The average cost of a sprinkler system is $1.61/sf of space covered by the system. (WSJ, Sept. 23)

The Newest Victims of the Housing Market Crisis: The Unpaid Workers Who Built America’s Homes.  “A report released today by LIUNA outlines systemic underpayment of wages in the residential construction industry… Workers [were] defrauded out of $750 million in wages a year by conservative estimates… The report outlines how corporate homebuilders… created ever greater pressure on their subcontractors to reduce costs to the point where cutting wages–and in some cases eliminating them–was the only way for subcontractors to compete… LIUNA: If underpayment for those workers amounted to only one hour per week of overtime, based on $10/hour over 50 weeks a year, the amount of shorted wages would be $750 million–or for the top 10 corporate homebuilders, 2.2% of their profits.” (Press Release, Sept. 23)

                                       

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