From Rob — If you’ve been paying attention to the news the past few weeks, you might have noticed the increase in the number of positive news stories about the housing market and the economy in general. I certainly have.

The stock market has closed up on more days than it has closed down. That hasn’t happened in months. The fed made a move that dropped mortgage rates to lows not seen since the 1960s. The inventory of unsold homes is beginning to get eaten up as sales of foreclosed homes are on the rise.

Here are a few headlines from around the country that should make you feel good. Talk about these stories at the next party you attend, or at your next association meeting, or to anyone that will listen. Enjoy.

Santa Clara County home sales up 24 percent in February

Florida to get $91M to stabilize housing market

As Interest Rates Drop, Housing Market Picks Up

Battered Housing Market Gets Booster Shot

Housing Market Perks Up As Mortgage Rates Decline

Stillwater housing market is strong

Finally, some hopeful signs for the spring market

Real estate agents say market still moving

New Analysis Provides Upgraded Outlook for Las Vegas Housing Market

Shoppers, sales are edging up but experts advise caution

Glimmer of Hope for Southern California Home Market

Wall Street resumes rally following housing report

Housing starts regain some ground in February

An article in the Wall Street Journal on March 11 with the headline, Foreclosed Houses Haunt Home Builders, highlights the troubles home builders are up against as a result of so many foreclosed houses sitting on the market. In areas such as Southern California the cost of a newly built home, with prices already reduced, are tens of thousands of dollars more than a one- or two-year-old home under foreclosure. Builders are not competing with each other, they’re competing with foreclosures.

Hotel ballrooms and school buses across the country are packed with people hoping to snatch up deals on foreclosed homes through public auctions, which accounts for the increase in home sales seen in some regions, the WSJ article states. Good news, right? Home sales are picking up. Yes, but at the same time, sales of new homes are still dropping. Your new homes are sitting unsold, and customers continue to drive past your office while banks slowly begin ridding themselves of the burden of unsold inventory.

Wait. Did you hear that? Banks are getting rid of foreclosed homes. People are finally being pushed off the fence and into the market. Another news story I read this morning quoted a woman in one of those hotel ballroom auctions armed with $300,000 hoping to snag a $500,000 home. She said she was scared to make the purchase, but the deal is too good to pass up. She was more scared NOT to buy a home than to buy one.

That’s it, isn’t it? That’s what we’ve all been waiting for, right? We’ve been waiting for that moment to arrive when people simply can’t wait any longer and feel forced to grab a bargain before it’s too late. I’m not implying that the housing market is officially back on track and on the rise. Of course it’s not. But, recovery must start somewhere.

From Rob H — The Obama Administration on March 4 announced new U.S. Department of the Treasury guidelines to enable loan servicers to begin modifications of eligible mortgages under the Administration’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan – announced by President Barack Obama just two weeks ago. This “Making Home Affordable” program authorizes implementation of provisions that will help bring relief to responsible homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments, while preventing neighborhoods and communities from suffering the negative spillover effects of foreclosure such as lower housing prices, increased crime and higher taxes.

The program could help up to 9 million homeowners who are making good-faith efforts to make their mortgage payments. It will not provide money to speculators, and it will target support to the working homeowners who have made every possible effort to stay current on their mortgage payments. You can find a press release and details of the program by clicking here.

Placing a floor under falling house prices is important and could mark the beginning of the end of the economic freefall this country is in. As stated on www.fixhousingfirst.com, “Home prices and property values dramatically declined (and continue to decline) across the country. Americans are now hesitant to buy homes because they fear prices will not stabilize anytime soon.”

Reade more at Financialstability.gov.

From Rob H – This is not your standard product write-up you’d see in the pages of Residential Design & Build. I write this as someone who spent several hours in the facilities where people are producing a product that can improve the home design and construction processes.

What LiteSteel Technologies is doing in its newly updated facilities in Virginia (pictured below) is exciting. The company is producing LiteSteel Beam (also pictured below), a product that truly saves time and money for those designing and building custom homes.

The LiteSteel Beam, or LSB for short, is a cold-formed, lightweight steel structural beam that combines the strength of steel with the workability of wood. I’ve personally seen one of these structural beams cut into two pieces with a circular saw you’d use to cut two-by-fours. Of course the blade is different, but the process is not. Standard professional power tools allow installers to screw holes as well for bolting and nailing.

Applications include basement beams, garage beams, long-span headers, roof and ridge beams, and floor and deck supports. The lightweight nature of the steel beam eliminates the expense of operating heavy equipment to lift and position standard structural beams into place. One or two workers can handle the beams with nothing more than their two hands.

If you haven’t seen the LSB product before, check it out at litesteelbeam.com. And before you head to your next trade show, check the exhibitor list for LiteSteel Technologies and if they’re there, make sure you stop by their booth to see it for yourself. But allow enough time for the booth visit, because the crowds in front of their booth at IBS 2009 stopped traffic on the show floor.

And once you’re ready to use LSB on your next job, you’ll be ready to go using the LSB Selector Software that allows you to properly specify the product for residential and light commercial applications.
For more information, visit their website listed two paragraphs above, call 877-285-2607 or send e-mail to sales@litesteelbeam.com