U.S. holiday retail sales grow a ‘solid’ 7.9 percent: MasterCard | 
The Return of the Affordable Starter Home
(…) Following the success this year of D.R. Horton Inc.’s low-cost Express brand, national firms including Tri Pointe, Taylor Morrison Home Corp. and Meritage Homes Corp. are testing cheaper offerings in markets from Colorado to Florida to California. (…)
The median size of a new single-family home was 2,445 square feet (227 square meters) in the third quarter, little changed from a year earlier, after rising 17 percent over six years from a low in 2008, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by Robert Dietz, an economist with the National Association of Home Builders. (…)
D.R. Horton, the nation’s largest builder, now collects 14 percent of its revenue from its Express brand, which it started last year and plans to expand in 2016 to most of its 79 markets. LGI Homes Inc., a Texas-based builder of entry-level houses that became a public company two years ago, has been the best-performing homebuilder stock this year. It reported an 88 percent increase in revenue in the third quarter from a year earlier. (…)
Saudis unveil radical austerity programme Attempt to tackle yawning deficit caused by falling oil price
(…) But this year’s deficit ballooned to 367bn Saudi riyals ($97.9bn,) or 15 per cent of gross domestic product, as oil revenues fell 23 per cent to Sr444.5bn. (…)
Riyadh would revise energy, water and electricity prices “gradually over the next five years” to optimise efficiency while minimising “negative effects on low and mid-income citizens and the competitiveness of the business sector,” it added.
The first reforms will be effective from Tuesday, including an increase in gasoline prices, a rise in electricity tariffs for the wealthiest consumers, a modest increase in water costs for all, and changes to all energy prices for industrial users.
The government will also seek to implement a plan for the introduction of a sales tax across the six Arab Gulf states. (…)
Real gross domestic product this year is expected to rise by 3.35 per cent, with the private sector growing at 3.74 per cent. (…)
1 thought on “NEW$ & VIEW$ (29 DECEMBER 2015)”
It would be interesting if the inflation in home size is the actual result of larger homes, or a move away from A.N.S.I Standards for home square footage measurements.
Many of the new, affordable homes being built in the northern US include finished basements that are about 1/2 story below the foundation. Most of these are advertised by real estate agents and online tools as including the below ground level finished space as part of the overall home square footage. I believe this may be in opposition to ANSI standards, which I believe only includes above ground square footage in its calculations. The National Association of Home Builders endorses ANSI standards for square footage calculations.
When homes are assessed by local boards, I believe the ANSI calculations are used. I just wonder where the census bureau is getting their numbers, and what methodology they are utilizing. Most real estate professionals ignore ANSI square footage standards or are oblivious to them when selling a home, so the square footage shown in real estate listings are mostly erroneous. Some agents will even take a seller at their word as to the finished square footage of the space they are selling without verifying.
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