May 2020
HBAs and Member Companies Participate in Safety Stand Down
NAHB's Spring Leadership Meeting Will Be Virtual NAHB’s senior officers have decided to make the 2020 NAHB Spring Leadership Meeting a virtual session instead of an in-person event. The decision was made in consideration of the safety of members. Dates and times of some meetings may change. Complete details regarding meeting times will be available when registration opens on Monday, May 18.
Home building job sites all over the country stopped work on Thursday, April 16 to educate workers and subcontractors on proper coronavirus safety measures. Hundreds of NAHB member companies and HBAs participated in the national COVID-19 Job Site Safety Stand Down. The hashtags assoc- iated with the stand down were used more than 500 times on social media and generated more than 3.5 million impressions. The safety stand down came out of discussions between the steering members of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition. The Associated General Contractors of America held their stand down on April 9, NAHB on April 16, and Associated Builders and Contractors held theirs on April 23. With materials created by the coalition, home builders, subcontractors, building suppliers, HBAs, and other associated businesses provided focused education on what workers on job sites should do to keep themselves healthy and flatten the curve for all. Safety resources, including a corona- virus preparedness plan and posters in English and Spanish, can be found at NAHB.org/safety.
As you know, Nebraska State Home Builders Association has been in the planning stages of hosting the Area 11 Leadership Conference on July 30th and July 31st, 2020 in Omaha, Nebraska. Pursuant to the "Stay at Home" regulations that have been placed on many states and the fact that many states are extending those dates, having the dates in July was risky at best. In addition, the NAHB staff that flies in to put on the programs is currently still working from home and is in limbo on dates when things will return to normal. They are also on a hold as to when they can travel and have no idea of what that might change. It would be impossible to go forward without them. In conferencing with my NSHBA Executive Committee and also with NAHB, we have made the determination that we will cancel the Conference in July and we will reschedule at such time that we feel people will be able to attend. NSHBA has been working on program contect which is very exciting and just as soon as we know that Washington will allow staff to fly in for the meeting, we will reschedule with ample notice to all of the locals and state associations in order to give you time to reschedule the meeting. As you can imagine, we are saddened that we have to make this change; however, we want everyone to be safe and to abide by the CDC guidelines across our four states. We look forward to seeing all of you when we are able to reschedule. Barbara J. Byrd NSHBA Executive Officer
2020 Area 11 Leadership Conference - To be rescheduled.
HBI Extends Free Online Learning The Home Builders Institute (HBI) has extended free online learning alternatives for local schools and training programs through May 31, in response to continued requests for K-12 Career Technical Education (CTE) amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Flexible Instruction Day materials do not require textbooks or workbooks to accommodate self-paced learning.
IRS Extends Filing Deadline The IRS has significantly broadened its tax return filing and payment relief in response to COVID-19. According to Notice 2020-23, nearly all taxpayers with a filing or payment deadline falling on or after April 1, 2020, and before July 15, 2020, will now have until July 15, 2020 to file returns and make payments without penalties or interest. The expanded relief applies to individuals, partnerships, corporations, estates, and other non-corporate tax filers. New Home Sales Fall 15.4% in March Sales of newly built, single-family homes fell 15.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 627,000 units in March, coming off a downward revision in February, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The March rate is 9.5% lower than the March 2019 pace.
HUD's Carson Joins NAHB Webinar In an exclusive webinar for NAHB members, HUD Secretary Ben Carson and FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery recently outlined specific measures the agency has implemented to battle the COVID-19 pandemic and lauded the efforts of NAHB during this outbreak. The two housing policy experts also answered detailed questions from NAHB members. A replay of the webinar is available to NAHB members in the Webinars and Town Halls section of nahb.org/coronavirus.
Congress Approves $484 Billion Stimulus Congress has approved a $484 billion relief measure to combat the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The legislation provides $380 billion in funding for two key small-business loan programs that ran out of money under the CARES Act. Businesses applying for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan may request an advance of up to $10,000 to be delivered within three days of the request. Under the Paycheck Protection Program, small businesses can take out loans equal to 2.5 times their average monthly payroll, up to $10 million.
A recent NAHB survey of professional remodelers shows the negative effect the coronavirus pandemic is having on the decision to remodel. More than 90% of remodelers in the survey reported a slowdown in both the rate at which inquiries are coming in, and in the general willingness of home owners to remodel at this time. Roughly 96% of remodelers said the virus was hurting the rate at which inquiries are coming in, and a full 70% characterized the negative impact on inquiries as major rather than minor. The survey listed eight impacts of the coronavirus on the remodeling market. More than 80% of respondents said the virus was having a noticeable effect on: Homeowner concerns about inter- acting with remodeling crews (86%); Supply of N95 face masks (84%); Cancellations or delays of existing projects (84%). The pandemic is having significant adverse effects on the remodeling market, but the strongest ones are the negative impacts on the behavior of potential customers.
2020 NGBS Now Available The 2020 edition of the ICC-700 National Green Building Standard® (NGBS) has been approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is available for public use. As of April 2020, more than 216,000 homes have been NGBS Green certified. The 2020 edition is the fourth edition of the standard. It reflects significant changes based on evolving market conditions and feedback received over the past decade from those using the standard. The NGBS includes high-performance practices in six areas: Lot Design and Development, Resource Efficiency, Water Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Building Operation & Maintenance.
States Start Reopening to Building Thanks to efforts by NAHB and state home builder associations, the few remaining states that have halted residential construction activity due the COVID-19 pandemic — Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Vermont — are taking steps to allow home building to resume production. In a critical win for NAHB and the residential construction sector, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on March 28 designated construction of single-family and multifamily housing as an “Essential Infrastructure Business.” Although this designation was not binding for individual states, most states followed the federal guidelines. Access NAHB’s updated map showing where construction can continue.
Survey Finds Remodelers Seeing Fewer Customer Inquiries
Leadership List President Mike Lech Vice President Zak Eickhoff Secretary/Treasurer Chad kleewein Executive Officer Josh Powell NPHBA Board of Directors Kathleen Matthews Rod Christmann North Platte Home Builders 308.530.0224 nphomebuilders@gmail.com
Calendar of Events June 26th - NSHBA Board Meeting - York, NE - Looking at changing to a confernce call. July 30th & 31st - NSHBA to Host Area 11 Conference - Omaha, NE - Postponed until further notice.. August 14th - (NEW DATE) NSHBA Golf Tournament - Kearney, NE Be sure to check out NSHBA's Coronavirus Web Page for information. www.nshba.org/corona/