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May 21, 2010 Housing Starts Hit 18-Month High
The Census Bureau reported permits issued for privately owned housing units in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 606,000, 11.5% below the revised March rate of 685,000, but 15.9% above the April 2009 estimate of 523,000. Single-family permits were at a rate of 484,000, 10.7% less than the revised March figure of 542,000, but 22.5% more than the 395,000 single-family permits issued in April 2009.
Privately owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 672,000, 5.8% above the revised March estimate of 635,000 and 40.9% more than the April 2009 rate of 477,000. Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 593,000, representing a 10.2% increase over the revised March figure of 538,000 and a 53.6% rise over 386,000 single-family starts in April 2009. Click here for the Census Bureau’s April residential construction report with a detailed statistical breakdown.
In its current “National Outlook,” the National Association of Home Builders says, “Our housing forecast for 2010-2011 continues to show systematic recovery in the single-family market with starts up by 25% in 2010 and roughly 50% in 2011, although the level of starts at the end of this period is a bit below the million unit mark and well below the 1.5 million units that we consider to be the potential trend level.” Click here to read NAHB’s full outlook. |
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Houston ‘Design Your Dream Home’ Winner to be Announced The Southern Pine Council’s 2010 Raised Floor Living campaign includes “Design Your Dream Home” promotions in both Houston and Charlotte, N.C. The Houston promotion ended last week, and the winner, Yolanda Camacho of Houston, will appear May 28 on KHOU-TV’s “Great Day Houston” along with a designer who will help her design her dream home.
“We sponsored segments explaining the benefits of raised floor foundations on KHOU-TV’s ‘Great Day Houston’ morning show for six weeks,” said Richard Wallace, SFPA’s vice president of communications. “We also encouraged viewers to visit www.RaisedFloorLiving.com and register for a chance to design their dream home. We’re doing the same thing in Charlotte, where our segments are airing during WBTV’s 5 p.m. newscast.”
In conjunction with SPC’s promotion, APA held “mini-competitions” to select a designer to help the winning entrant design his or her dream home. Kathleen Reardon and John Dazey of RD Architecture LLC are the winning design team in Houston. John is expected to appear with Yolanda on the “Great Day Houston” segment, where he will receive a $5,000 check for the firm’s services from SFPA’s Cathy Kaake, senior director of engineered and framing markets.
The “Great Day Houston” episode can be viewed live at 9 a.m. CDT next Friday by clicking here. A video viewing screen with the words “Watch Great Day Live” will appear on the left side of the screen shortly before air time.
In all, 167 people entered the Houston promotion, and 99 have entered the Charlotte promotion so far. That promotion ends May 23. Click here to read more about APA’s “Design Challenge” and see raised floor home designs submitted by the winning designers and runners-up in the Houston and Charlotte competitions. |
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22 Facilities Qualify for Sawmill Safety Award Twenty-two SFPA member facilities achieved SFPA’s Sawmill Safety Award for safe performance during 2009. For the first time, Affiliate members were also invited to submit their safety data for consideration within Division I, so the recipients include both sawmills and treating plants.
SFPA member facilities are considered for the award based on information submitted to SFPA regarding lost-time occupational injuries and illnesses. Safety performance is judged by how each facility’s safety record stacks up against facilities with comparable lumber output throughout the year. Division I facilities produce or treat 50 million board feet or less; Division II facilities produce 51 to 150 million board feet; and Division III facilities turn out more than 150 million board feet. Facilities with the lowest incident rates in each division receive the award. All of the facilities being honored this year reported zero incidents during 2009.
The 2009 recipients are:
Division I Cox Industries Inc. – Woodstock, Ala. Edgefield Lumber Company – Loxley, Ala. Elder Wood Preserving Company – Mansura, La. Georgia-Pacific LLC – Crossett, Ark., and Cleveland, Texas Toney Lumber Company – Louisburg, N.C. Tri-State Lumber Company – Fulton, Miss.
Division II Anthony Forest Products Company – Atlanta, Texas Deltic Timber Corp. – Ola, Ark.
Georgia-Pacific
LLC – Fayette, Ala., Sterling, Ga., Bay Springs, Miss., Columbia, Miss., Weyerhaeuser Company – Holden, La., McComb, Miss., New Bern, N.C., and Idabel, Okla.
Division III Georgia-Pacific LLC – Gurdon, Ark. Temple Inland Inc. – Diboll, Texas Weyerhaeuser Company – Bruce, Miss., and Greenville, N.C.
The awards will be presented at SFPA’s Midyear Meeting next week at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans. |
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Change in Expo Dates
Past and prospective exhibitors will soon receive a packet in the mail with full details. Meanwhile, if you have questions or want to make sure you’re on Expo’s mailing list, contact Eric at 504/443-4464, ext. 214, or by e-mail at egee@sfpa.org. Information is also available at www.sfpaexpo.com. |
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Privately
owned housing starts last month hit the highest 
The
previously announced dates for Expo 2011 
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