The Committees, Councils, Board of Directors and Leadership Council of NAHB met in Washington DC last month. The meeting also included a day on Capitol Hill visiting our Legislators. The Pennsylvania delegation had approximately 15 people. Below are some notes and highlights of the week-long activities. Please feel free to contact me if you need any additional information on anything listed below.
Our successful grassroots efforts during NAHB’s Legislative Conference are making a difference on behalf of housing. Progress has been made to advance our priorities on – energy codes, workforce development and stopping HUD and USDA from mandating that all housing financed under their umbrella conform to the 2021 IECC-unamended. We absolutely oppose this action and now have certain legislators supporting our campaign.
NAHB has developed a 10-point housing plan to keep housing front and center during this election season. Our message is strong and concise: The only way to tame shelter inflation (homeownership and rental costs) and to ease the housing affordability crisis is to build more homes. A copy of that plan is available on NAHB’s Website.
The State and Local Government Affairs Committee heard 9 applications from municipalities fighting everything from impact fees to taxes on vehicle miles traveled, to energy stretch codes and agreed to fund over $150,000 to fight these issues. If your area is fighting a unique issue, I encourage you to reach out to NAHB for funding assistance.
2024 IBS was a huge success both financially and in terms of the satisfaction level indicated from visitors and vendors. 2025 promises to be even bigger and better so keep an eye out for hotel registrations when they open to guarantee you can secure a room. 2025 IBS is the last week of February.
Dr. Robert Dietz has posted his economic report on the NAHB website. Dr Dietz noted that Building Material prices are up 30% since Covid. He sees slow growth in single family housing starts in 2025 and 2026 with rates remaining over 6 until at least late 2025. The 10 largest single family growth markets are in the Southeast and South-central regions. He sees multifamily starts rebounding slightly in 2025 and 2024 after dropping nearly 30% in 2024. His full report is on the NAHB website. Builder Confidence has dropped to 45. Anything below 50 is considered negative sentiment.
NAHB continues to execute its Strategic Plan. It is committed to move forward to achieve the goals set out in the plan. These goals include being more engaged with the membership, being a bigger advocate for our industry and increasing the public perception of NAHB.
NAHB’s membership is up for 2024 by nearly 1,500 new members to a total of almost 130,000.
Please feel free to contact me if you need any additional information.
Andrew Kaye, NAHB Pennsylvania State Representative
akaye@amkcobuilders.com