by Michael Dey | Jul 8, 2012 | Uncategorized
The Greenville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which covers Greenville, Pickens, and Laurens counties, is the latest market to join NAHB’s Improving Markets Index. The index identifies markets that are improving based on three measures: 1) rising housing prices, 2) rising building activity, and 3) rising job creation.
NAHB featured Greenville last week on its blog, Eye on Housing. Featured in the report were comments from HBA of Greenville President Elect Rick Quinn and Director Matt Vaughn. Vaughn made note of a key issue that may impact home building as the housing market improves: “What’s scary is that unless there is some quick large-scale development I’m afraid we will run out of finished lots by the end of 2013.”
Read the entire report at Eye on Housing by clicking here.
Click here for a video of NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe discussing the Improving Markets Index.
Note that the last factor causing Greenville to join the Improving Markets Index was house prices. Housing prices in Greenville, while relatively stable, were not improving sufficiently until now to put our market on the list. Now that demand is catching up and surpassing supply, housing prices have been steadily rising in the Greenville area for the last six months.
by Michael Dey | May 30, 2012 | Uncategorized
The HBA of Greenville Board of Directors elected four new members to the association’s Board of Directors. The following members were elected to fill unexpired terms on the Board of Directors:
- Mike Freeman, GMB, Vice President. Mike is President of ACA Freewood Contracting.
- Susan Peace-Vernon, Secretary. Susan is Vice President of Dillard-Jones Builders.
- Gus Rubio, Builder Director. Gus is President of Gabriel Builders, Inc.
- Matt Vaughn, Associate Director. Matt is market leader for Homeowners Mortgage
The HBA of Greenville is a consumer resource for finding builders, remodelers, and home improvement specialists in the Upstate region of South Carolina. Membership includes local and national builders, remodelers, specialty contractors, manufacturers, financial and insurance professionals, realtors, and many others that offer products and services for homeowners and first-time homebuyers.
The HBA’s Board of Directors includes 20 professionals from within the association’s membership. The Board is led by the association’s President, Robert Markel, CGR. The association is managed by ten professional staff and consultants.
by Michael Dey | Apr 23, 2012 | Uncategorized
Dear HBA of Greenville Membership,
The HBA Nominating Committee has begun work on identifying and recommending to the membership a slate of officers and directors for 2013. Elections will be held at our Annual meeting in November.
If you have an interest in serving in one of the following positions, or know of a member we should consider, please contact Michael Dey, Executive Vice President of the HBA of Greenville, or me or a member of the Nominating Committee.
The following positions on the HBA of Greenville Board of Directors are open for nominations:
- Vice President
- Associate Vice President
- Director, Associate Member (3-year term) (2 vacancies)
- Director, Builder Member (3-year term) (2 vacancies)
In addition, the Nominating Committee recommends to the Board of Directors members to be elected to the HBA of South Carolina Board of Directors and the National Association of Home Builders Board of Director. If you have an interest in serving in one of these capacities, please contact Michael Dey, or me or one of the members of the Nominating Committee.
I would like to thank the members of the Nominating Committee for their participation:
- Wayne Moore, Chairman, Harold Moore Builder
- Robert Markel, CGR, Vice Chairman, Hadrian Construction Company
- Bob Barreto, GBS Building Supply
- Rick Quinn, Quinn-Satterfield
- Matt Vaugh, Homeowners Mortgage
- Susan Vernon, Dillard-Jones Builders
Wayne Moore, Immediate Past President
by Michael Dey | Jan 20, 2012 | Uncategorized
Your HBA of Greenville has formed a Young Professionals Group. The purpose of the group is to connect young professionals involved in the home building industry with one another, as well as with seasoned professionals, to discuss topics related to the housing industry and our Upstate community.
HBAYP welcomes young professionals age 40 and under to join us for our first meeting:
- February 1, 2012
- 4 p.m. until 6 p.m.
- The Great Oyster Bay House, 109 East Poinsett Street, Greer
Plan to spend time in a relaxed environment with a group of your peers and encourage your common professional growth. “This event is an outlet for networking with individuals who share in similar challenges and business practices so that we may foster discussions towards defining the current needs facing this generation of future leaders,” Matt Vaughn, Chairman of HBAYP and Sales Manager of Homeowners Mortgage, said.
As an added plus, the member company that has the most employees attend will win a complimentary block ad for a month on
www.HBAofGreenville.com. Thank you for being a member of the Home Builders Association of Greenville.
by Michael Dey | Jul 8, 2011 | Uncategorized
By Matt Vaughn, Sales Manager
Homeowners Mortgage
Effective October 1, 2011, there will be a decrease in the GSE (government-secured enterprise) and FHA loans. This will decrease a bank’s opportunity to originate loans higher than the approved loan limit. Companies like Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac offer securities and guarantees to lenders that help grant favorable rates and loan securitization, thereby decreasing the risk to lenders origninating the loans.
As we close in on the deadline when the loan limits will expire, it is important to evaluate how that may effect our local market in the Upstate. The expiration of the loan limits, which have been statutorily higher since 2008, will directly affect 204 counties nationwide. None of those counties are located in South Carolina.
The limits were set in place under the 2008 stimulus package when financing was scarce for homebuyer’s whose loan amounts exceeded the $417,000 limits. Sensing a need to provide homeownership to borrowers in higher-priced markets where buyers could not afford the larger down payments for more expensive homes, the government assigned a new loan size to each county to 25 percent greater than its median home prices, not to exceed $729,750.
The new rule lowers the temporary increase to 15 percent from 25 percent above the median home price, not to exceed $625,000, effective October 1, 2011.
Another change taking place this fall will affect FHA loans. These changes will take place in 620 counties throughout the nation affecting 59 percent of all homes. That means changes in South Carolina for the following counties: Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester, Georgetown, Greenville, Horry, Jasper, Laurens, Pickens, and York. For the Greenville market, the 3 counties located in the Upstate will see their FHA loan limit drop to $271,050 from $295,000.
When dropping the price threshold and assuming the minimum 3.5 percent down payment investment, according to NAHB 2,538 families in Greenville County will be affected by the reduced FHA loan limit. That may seem like a lot of families, but in order to understand the impact of changes in FHA loans it is important to focus on the statistics of borrowers obtaining FHA financing. According to HUD, 107,125 people used FHA loans to purchase homes last year with an average loan amount of $179,000 with an average credit score of 703; 77 percent of these loans went to first time home buyers. For those working, building and buying in Greenville County this means that the changes should not have a large impact on home sales in our area.
The average sales price of a home in Greenville County is between $160,000 and $170,000. Most homes here will not be affected by any upcoming changes. For those selling and building at a higher price, the good news is that conventional mortgage insurance companies have started to become more competitive now that FHA monthly premiums have increased, and should attract a larger percentage of buyers with money to put down looking for better payments.
