the nail, june, 2016

June, 2016 l The NAIL 1

2 The NAIL l June, 2016


The official magazine ofHome Builders Association

of Middle Tennessee

PresidentRandall Smith

Vice PresidentJohn Zelenak

Secretary/TreasurerKeith Porterfield

Executive Vice PresidentJohn Sheley

Editor and DesignerJim Argo

StaffConnie NicleyPat Newsome

Charlotte Fischer

THE NAIL is published monthly by theHome Builders Association of MiddleTennessee, a non-profit trade associationdedicated to promoting the Americandream of homeownership to all residents of Middle Tennessee.

SUBMISSIONS: THE NAIL welcomesmanuscripts and photos related to theMiddle Tennessee housing industry forpublication. Editor reserves the right toedit due to content and space limitations.

POSTMASTER: Please send addresschanges to: HBAMT, 9007 OverlookBoulevard, Brentwood, TN 37027.Phone: (615) 377-1055.

THE

NAIL


FEATURES

9Piedmont Natural Gas

Fishing Tournament The Piedmont Natural Gas 2016 HBAMT Fishing Tournament was held last month

on J. Percy Priest Lake and concluded with a weigh-in at Four Corners Marina.

11Lot shortages reach record

high on NAHB index According to builders reports reflected on the recent NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing

Market Index, the supply of lots are at their lowest levels since the information began

being collected in 1987.

DEPARTMENTS

6News & Information

13SPIKE Club Report

14June Calendar

14Chapters and Councils

ON THE COVER:New home sales continue to rise and recently

reached their highest levels since the end of the recession. More on page six.


Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 16.6 percent in April from an up-wardly revised March reading to a sea-

sonally adjusted annual rate of 619,000 units, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Develop-ment and the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the highest sales pace since January 2008.

“Builders remain optimistic about the housing market, and this month’s jump in new home sales is a positive sign that grow-

ing demand will keep the housing sector on an upward trajectory through the spring buy-ing season,” said NAHB Chairman Ed Brady, a home builder and developer from Bloom-ington, Ill.

“Rising home sales combined with tight in-ventory will translate into increased housing production as we move onward in 2016, espe-cially as job creation continues and mortgage rates remain low,” said NAHB Chief Econo-mist Robert Dietz.

The inventory of new homes for sale was 243,000 in April, which is a 4.7-month sup-ply at the current sales pace. The median sales price of new houses sold in April was $321,100.

Regionally, new home sales rose by 52.8 percent in the Northeast, 18.8 percent in the West and 15.8 percent in the South. Sales fell by 4.8 percent in the Midwest. n

New home sales reach post recession high

NEws&INfo

This month’s jump in new home sales is a positive sign that growing demand will keep the housing sector on an upward trajectory through the spring buying season.


Spurred by a modest reduction in mortgage interest rates and favorable home prices, nationwide housing

affordability in the first quarter of 2016 posted a slight increase, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) released recently.

“With interest rates near historic lows and attractive home prices, this is a great time to buy a home,” said NAHB Chairman Ed Brady.

“This is the second consecutive quarter that we’ve seen a nationwide improvement in affordability due to favorable home prices and mortgage rates,” said NAHB Chief Econ-omist Robert Dietz. “These factors, along with rising employment, a growing economy and pent-up demand will provide a boost for home sales in the second half of 2016.”

In all, 65 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of January and end of March were affordable to families earning the U.S. median income of $65,700. This is up from the 63.3 percent of homes sold that were affordable to median-income earn-ers in the fourth quarter.

The national median home price fell from $226,000 in the fourth quarter to $223,000 in the first quarter. Meanwhile, average mortgage rates edged lower from

4.09 percent to 4.05 percent in the same period.

For the second consecutive quarter, Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa., was rated the nation’s most affordable major hous-ing market. There, 93.1 percent of all new and existing homes sold in the first quarter were af-fordable to families earning the area’s median income of $53,900.

Rounding out the top five affordable major housing markets in respective order were Syr-acuse, N.Y.; Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.; Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazleton, Pa.; and Toledo, Ohio.

Meanwhile, Cumberland, Md.-W.Va., claimed the title of most affordable small hous-

ing market in the first quarter of 2016. There, 98 percent of homes sold during the first quar-ter were affordable to families earning the ar-ea’s median income of $55,100.

Smaller markets joining Cumberland at the top of the list included Wheeling, W.Va.-Ohio; Fairbanks, Alaska; Binghamton, N.Y.; and Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa-Ill.

For the 14th consecutive quarter, San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francis-co, Calif., was the nation’s least affordable major housing market. There, just 10.4 per-cent of homes sold in the first quarter were affordable to families earning the area’s me-dian income of $96,800.

Other major metros at the bottom of the affordability chart were located in California. In descending order, they included Los An-geles-Long Beach-Glendale; Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara; and San Diego-Carlsbad.

Four of the five least affordable small housing markets were also in California. At the very bottom of the affordability chart was Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif., where 16.1 percent of all new and existing homes sold were affordable to families earning the area’s median income of $85,100.

Other small markets at the lowest end of the affordability scale included Salinas, Calif.; Napa, Calif; San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, Calif.; and Kahu-lui-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii.

Please visit nahb.org/hoi for tables, historic data and details. n

Housing affordability posts second straight quarterly gain

Clayton, one of America’s largest home-builders, recently announced it has ac-quired Gallatin, Tenn.-based Goodall

Homes, a builder of new single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums since 1990. Goodall is the second site-built housing compa-ny to become part of Maryville-based Clayton, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Ha-thaway. Clayton acquired Atlanta-area builder Chafin Communities last fall.

Clayton, through its site-building arm, Clayton Properties, entered the site-built hous-ing market to expand its portfolio of housing options to homebuyers. The acquisition of Goodall Homes includes approximately 3,600 lots and 180 homes under construction in a five-county area in Middle Tennessee. Goodall Homes closed 436 homes last year.

“Adding great builders like Goodall to our team is exciting,” stated Clayton home build-ing group President, Keith Holdbrooks. “As we continue to grow and expand into the site-built market, it is important to partner with teams that share our culture of providing an excellent customer experience.”

Bob Goodall, Jr. started building in 1983, following a tradition that began with his fa-ther, Bobby Goodall, Sr. The builder has fo-cused on offering welcoming homes in beau-

tiful neighborhoods through the development and construction of single-family homes, townhomes, courtyard cottages, condomini-ums and villas in the Nashville area. The range of housing has allowed Goodall to reach a wide network of buyers through its diverse offerings. The company was named 2014’s National Builder of the Year, as voted by Pro-fessional Builder Magazine.

“I started building homes 33 years ago. We have been blessed with so many success-ful opportunities,” Goodall Homes President Bob Goodall, Jr., said. “This acquisition will help our employees, trades, suppliers and our families continue on this path of growth for years to come. Goodall Homes has devel-oped many great leaders and this will provide many possibilities for our team members. We are honored to be on the Clayton team and to contribute to the continued success of Berk-shire Hathaway.”

Goodall and his management team will re-tain their respective positions. n

Clayton announced acquisition of Goodall Homes


NEws&INfo

Guide helps builders navigate 2015 Residential Code

A new guide co-published by the Na-tional Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the International Code

Council (ICC) provides critical answers to the most frequently asked residential construction jobsite code questions. Available through Buil-derBooks, NAHB’s publishing arm, the 2015 Home Builders’ Jobsite Codes: A Quick Guide to the 2015 International Residential Code, is a portable guide for home builders, contractors, inspectors, architects, engineers and other con-struction professionals.

The convenient field guide is a quick refer-ence to the 2015 International Residential Code (IRC) and provides easy-to-read code require-ments for every aspect of residential construc-tion. The resource covers the impact of the 2015 code changes on things such as common walls separating townhouses, remodeling of an existing basement and more.

The 2015 Home Builders’ Jobsite Code in-cludes more than 100 detailed illustrations and useful tables and discussion on other areas of

the code, including:

FoundationsFire SafetyEnergy EfficiencyMechanical SystemsSafe & Healthy Living Environments

“This new guide to the 2015 International Residential Code is an excellent resource for building professionals to stay on top of the most recent code changes,” said NAHB Chair-man Ed Brady, a home builder and develop-er from Bloomington, Ill. “Available both in a compact pocket guide, as well as in e-book, this easy-to-use reference guide is always one of our most top selling publications, as it is an invaluable asset on the job site.”

Written by Stephen A. Van Note, the guide features more than 100 illustrations, tables and figures to help the reader understand specific code requirements, as well as a glossary that pro-vides definitions of construction-related terms.

A certified building official and plans exam-iner, Van Note has more than 15 years of expe-rience in code administration and enforcement and more than 20 years of experience in the construction field, including project planning and management for residential, commercial and industrial buildings.

The 2015 Home Builders’ Jobsite Codes is meant to be of practical use on the jobsite, not as a substitute for the complete codes.

To purchase the new 2015 Home Builders’ Jobsite Codes: A Quick Guide to the 2015 International Residential Code, please visit BuilderBooks.com or call 1-800-223-2665. (ISBN 978-086718-741-0; Retail $21.95/

NAHB Mem-ber $19.95). The Guide is also available as an e-book at ebooks.builder-books.com. n

“2015 Home Builders’ Jobsite Codes A Quick Guide to the 2015 International Residential Code”


The Piedmont Natural Gas 2016 Fishing Tournament was held May 24 on J. Percy Priest Lake at Four Corners Marina.

Joe Haas Construction’s Joe Haas and Rusty Rust took home first place honors following the afternoon weigh-in. Haas and Rust reeled in 16.53 lbs worth of catches, a total that included the “Big Fish” winning catch of 4.39 lbs.

The Boral Brick team of Jamie Smith and Todd Spann weighed-in with 15.93, just short of the top weight, to secure second place awards.

And Jim Ford and Mike Williams took home third place honors for the Ford Con-struction boat. Ford and Williams reeled in 15.00 lbs worth of catches.

A big thanks to title sponsor Piedmont Natural Gas and to all our sponsors; Hermitage Lighting Gallery, Mid-TN Erosion & Sediment Control, Vulcan Materials, and FBC Mortgage, whose attendance and help during the event was most appreciated. A big thanks to you all! n

Piedmont Natural Gas Fish Tournament!

Company Boat Fisherman Wt.

Joe Haas Construction Joe Haas & Rusty Rust 16.53

Boral Brick Jamie Smith & Todd Spann 15.93

Ford Construction Jim Ford & Mike Williams 15.00

Piedmont Natural Gas Tommy Lynch & Danny Hankins 13.83

J.S. Earhart Plumbing Jody Earhart & Bobby Colson 13.78

Joe Haas Construction Bob Bramel & Rick Swancey 12.00

Piedmont Natural Gas Lamar Morgan & Joe Reese 11.42

IMI John Blevins & Doug Manhardt 9.98

Inter-Vac Systems Jody Smith & Randy Summers 9.59

Joe Haas (left) and Rusty Rust (right) took home first place honors at the Piedmont Natural Gas Fish Tour-nament last month at Four Corners Marina.

Annual tournament wraps at Four Corners.


Top left: Todd Spann and Jamie Johnson won second place honors for the Boral Brick boat following the tournament’s weigh-in. Top right: Mike Williams and Jim Ford from the Ford Construction boat, third place winners following the tournament’s weigh-in.Far left: dockside at Four Corners Marina where fishermen weighed in at the conclu-sion of the tournament. Left: Joe Haas and Rusty Rust hold catch-es following their weigh-in that helped net the Joe Haas Construction boat first place honors and the “Big Fish” Award.


Record setting lot shortageNAHB’s measure of lot shortages hit a new record in May. In

answer to special questions on the survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, 64 percent of builders reported that the supply of lots in their markets was low or very low—

up from 62 percent last year and the highest the lot shortage percentage has been since NAHB began collecting the information in 1997.

“The lack of availability of buildable lots has quickly become one of the biggest issues facing our members,” said NAHB Chairman Ed Brady, a home builder and developer from Bloomington, Ill. “While labor shortages and regulatory burdens remain struggles as well, lot shortages are prevent-ing our builders from responding to growing demand for housing.”

“We have monitored lot availability for the last two decades, and it is clear that the scarcity of building lots is growing,” said NAHB Chief Econ-omist Robert Dietz. “Whether due to land use policy, geographic constraints

or other regulatory constraints, the lack of lots for residential construction will have negative impacts on housing affordability in many markets.”

Perhaps most notable is that builders reported this record shortage at a time when new homes are being started at a rate of fewer than 1.2 million a year. In 2005, when total housing starts were over 2.0 million, the share of builders reporting a shortage of lots was “only” 53 percent.

The percentage varies, based on region of the country, size of builder, and type of lot. Although the categories are seldom defined precisely, builders often think in terms of A, B and C lots, based on the desirability of their location. As you might expect, the shortage tends to be most acute for A lots. In the May 2016 survey, 69 percent of the builders said A lots were in short supply, compared to 60 percent for B lots, and 47 percent for C lots.

Often, differences show up most clearly in the share of builders who report the supply of lots in their markets is “very low.” For example, the

Builders report low lot supplies in recent NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.


69 percent of builders reporting low or very-low lot supply in the West is only marginally above the 62 percent in the Midwest and 64 percent in the South, and actually slightly be-low the 68 percent in the Northeast. But a full 39 percent of builders in the West characterized lot supply as very low, far above the percentag-es in the other three regions.

Compared to lot supply in general, builders are more likely to report a very-low share of A lots, especially in the Northeast, Midwest and South. When the lot supply question is restricted to A lots, these three regions more closely resemble the West.

Perhaps surprisingly, lot shortages were also reported somewhat more often by larger home builders. Overall, 70 percent of builders with over 100 starts reported a low or very-low supply of lots, compared to 65 percent for builders with 6 to 99 starts, and 62 percent of builders with fewer than 6 starts.

One factor may be that builders with fewer starts are more likely to build one-at-a-time custom homes on land already owned by the homeowner, where lot supply in the area is less of an issue. Larger companies may also be look-ing to build in multiple locations within an area, making them more likely to run into a shortage if it exists anywhere within the broader area.

In any event, larger builders are also more likely to report shortages for A lots specifically. In the 2016 survey, 78 percent of builders with 100-plus starts reported a shortage of A lots, compared to 74 to 75 percent of builders with 6 to 99 starts, and 59 percent of builders with fewer than 6 starts. Part of the reason the percentage is that low for small builders is that quite a few of them checked “Don’t Know/Not Sure” when asked about lots of a particular type (A, B or C). NAHB includes “Don’t Knows” in the base when calculating percentages to avoid overstating the shortages. n


sPIKE REPoRT

Twelve SPIKES (in bold) increased their recruitmentnumbers last month. What is a SPIKE? SPIKES recruit new members and help the association retain members. Here is the latest SPIKE report as of April 30, 2016.

Top 20 Big Spikes

Jim Ford 912Virgil Ray 821Bill King 776Mitzi Spann 717Terry Cobb 567Jim Fischer 566John Whitaker 468Jennifer Earnest 348James Carbine 345Kevin Hale 287David Crane 280Trey Lewis 277Tonya Jones 271Reese Smith III 261Steve Moody 219Sonny Shackelford 219Davis Lamb 196Tim Ferguson 176James Franks 176Jackson Downey 174

Life Spikes

Jim McLean 164Louise Stark 163Harry Johnson 146Steve Cates 141C.W. Bartlett 138Tonya Alexander 128Sam Carbine 128Steve Hewlett 119Carmen Ryan 109B.J. Hanson 107Dave McGowan 104Johnny Watson 101Julie DuPree 97Jordan Clark 95Duane Vanhook 92Jeff Zeitlin 87Erin Richardson 76Wiggs Thompson 75Michael Dillon 70Helmut Mundt 70Jeff Slusher 70John Baugh 68Don Bruce 62Jim Ford, Jr. 62Beth Sturm 59Hill McAlister 57Lori Fisk-Conners 55Joe Morgan 54John Broderick 53Gerald Bucy 53David Hughes 51Christina Cunningham 47Al Davis 47Andrew Neuman 47Benny Sullivan 46John Ganschow 45Bryan Edwards 44

Kay Russell 44Peggy Krebs 40David Lippe 38Andy Wyatt 37Chuck Clarkson 36Frank Miller 36Randall Smith 36Brad Butler 35Derenda Sircy 35Al Hacker 34Justin Hicks 33Ray Edwards 32Dan Strebel 32John Zelenak 31Steve Wheeley 30Alvin Basel 29Marty Maitland 27

Spikes

Don Mahone 23Frank Tyree 18Ashley Crews 16Keith Porterfield 14Ricky Scott 14Ron Schroeder 12Gina Hewlett 10Don Alexander 9McClain Franks 6Rob Pease 6


1 2Sales & Marketing Council meeting

3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15Remodelers Council

meeting

16 17 18

19 20 Dickson County Chapter

meeting

21 22 23 24 25

26 27Metro/Nashville Chapter

meeting

28 29 30 1 2

3 4 5 6 7Sales & Marketing Council meeting

8 9

JUNE CALENdAR

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

CHAPTERS

CHEATHAM COUNTY CHAPTERChapter President - Roy Miles: 615/646-3303Cheatham County Chapter details are being planned.Next meeting: to be announced.Chapter RSVP Line: 615/377-9651, ext. 310

DICKSON COUNTY CHAPTERChapter President - Mark Denney: 615/446-2873.The Dickson County Chapter meets on the third Monday of the month, 12:00 p.m. at the Ponderosa Restaurant in Dickson.Next meeting: Monday, June 20.Price: FREE, lunch dutch treat.Chapter RSVP Line: 615/377-9651, ext. 307

MAURY COUNTY CHAPTERMaury County Chapter details are currently being planned.Next meeting: to be announced.Chapter RSVP line: 615-377-9651, ext. 312; for callers outside the 615 area code, 1-800-571-9995, ext. 312

METRO/NASHVILLE CHAPTERChapter President - John Whitaker: 615/843-3300.The Metro/Nashville Chapter meets on the fourth Monday of the month, 11:30 a.m. at the HBAMT offices.Next meeting: Monday, June 27.Topic: “Legislative Update,” with Susan Ritter, Executive Vice President, HBAT. Builders Free pending sponsorship.Price: $10 per person with RSVP ($20 w/o RSVP).Chapter RSVP Line: 615/377-9651, ext. 304

ROBERTSON COUNTY CHAPTER

Next meeting: to be announced.Robertson County RSVP line: 615-377-9651, ext. 313.

SUMNER COUNTY CHAPTERThe Sumner County Chapter meets on the fourth Tuesday of the month, 11:30 a.m. at the new Hendersonville Library.Next meeting: to be announced.Chapter RSVP Line: 615/377-9651, ext. 306

WILLIAMSON COUNTY CHAPTERChapter President - BJ Hanson: 615/884-4935.The Williamson County Chapter meets on the third Tuesday of the month, 11:30 a.m. at the HBAMT offices.Next meeting: to be announced.Builders Free pending sponsorship.Price: $10 per person with RSVP ($20 w/o RSVP). Chapter RSVP Line: 615/377-9651, ext. 305

WILSON COUNTY CHAPTERThe Wilson County Chapter meets on the second Thursday of the month, 11:30 a.m. at the Five Oaks Golf & Country Club in Lebanon.Next meeting: to be announced.Chapter RSVP Line: 615/377-9651, ext. 309

COUNCILS

GREEN BUILDING COUNCILCouncil President - Erin Richardson: 615/883-8526.The Green Building Council meets on the fourth Wednesday of the month, 11:00 a.m.Next meeting: to be announced.Topic: to be announced.Price: free for Green Building Council members pending

sponsorship; $20 for non-members with RSVP ($25 w/o).Council RSVP Line: 615/377-9651, ext. 308

HBAMT REMODELERS COUNCILCouncil President - Ricky Scott.The HBAMT Remodelers Council meets on the third Wednesday of the month, 11:00 a.m. at varying locations.Next meeting: Wednesday, June 15.Location and topic: to be announced.Price: free for RMC members with RSVP; $15 for non-members with RSVP ($20 w/o).Council RSVP Line: 615/377-9651, ext. 301

INFILL BUILDERS COUNCILThe Infill Builders meets on the third Thursday of the month, 11:30 a.m. at the HBAMT offices until further notice.Next meeting: to be announced.Council RSVP Line: 615/377-9651, ext. 311

MIDDLE TENN SALES & MARKETING COUNCILCouncil President - Jody Derrick.The SMC meets on the first Thursday of the month, 9:00 a.m. at the HBAMT offices.Next meeting: Thursday, June 2.Topic: Special guests from E3 Innovate will deliver an informative presentation detailing ways to keep your home and properties efficient.SMC members free with RSVP thanks to THDA; non-SMC members $25 w/RSVP, $35 w/o RSVPCouncil RSVP Line: 615/377-9651, ext. 302.

CHAPTERs & CoUNCILs

the nail, june, 2016

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