Rendell on a roll!

Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania is at it again. He is quickly becoming the political point person for infrastructure investment in this country. In Minneapolis over the weekend, Rendell, together with Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, urged the major political parties to adopt an infrastructure plank in their party platforms. He is also touting a website, Building America's Future, designed to act as the major information portal for the effort to secure greater investment in the country's roads, ridges, dams and sewer systems. The nation's media is starting to take notice. Read this great editorial from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Bridge deficiencies highlighted

USA Today is calling attention to bridge deficiencies in the U.S. with an article, complete with charts and budgetary data. From the article: "The fatal collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis a year ago jolted states into better inspections of the nation's 600,000 bridges, but they aren't coming up with the billions of dollars needed to ensure that all of them are sound." Read the rest of the piece here.Your comment?

LEED the way

McGraw-Hill Construction surveyed a representative sample of one million U.S. households (equating to three million consumers) to find those individuals who had purchased LEED certified and other green homes over the last three years and question them about their attitudes. The vast majority (83 percent) said their new homes will lower operating costs; lower energy bills within the first year after purchase (79 percent); and also lower water bills within the first year after purchase (68 percent).

Going green was the top reason cited by survey respondents for remodeling their home. Environmental benefits such as lower energy costs and healthier air were identified by 42 percent of respondents as their main reason for home improvements; 34 percent cited increased comfort; only 24 percent said improved appearance was their main benefit from remodeling.

Other key findings of the McGraw-Hill Construction survey include:

70 percent of buyers are either more or much more inclined to purchase a green home over a conventional home in down housing market.

More than half (56 percent) of those surveyed who have bought green homes earn less than $75,000 per year; 29 percent earn less than $50,000.

Overall, lower income buyers say they found tax credits and government programs, indoor air quality benefits and green certifications to be the most important incentives for them to buy green homes.

Making homes greener is now the number one reason for home improvement (42 percent) over remodeling for comfort reasons (34 percent) or to improve appearance (24 percent).

Almost half (44 percent) of homes renovated between 2005 and 2007 used products chosen for their green attributes. Your comment?

Saving the HTF

According to NSSGA, on Wednesday afternoon, the House of Representatives voted 387 to 37 on a bill to infuse the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) with enough revenue to ensure it remains solvent until Congress can reauthorize the massive multi-year highway bill next year. Due to the parliamentary procedures used to consider the bill, which prevented any amendments, a two-thirds vote of support was needed to pass. The next legislative hurdle for the legislation is the Senate, which is unlikely to consider the bill before September. H.R. 6532 would recapture about $8 billion in HTF revenues transferred to the general fund when Congress passed TEA-21 in 1998. The legislation was introduced by the chairman of the Ways and Means committee, along with virtually all of the Transportation and Infrastructure committee including the chairman and senior Republican. Your comment?

Let the states do it

If the president and congress won't do it, maybe the governors will. According to an article, improving the nation’s crumbling bridges, roads and sewage systems is a $1.6 trillion problem that governors intend to address in the next year. “It’s not the sexiest of issues, but in many ways, it’s as important as anything we do,” Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (left) said July 14, as he accepted the chairmanship of the National Governors Association and formally kicked off his infrastructure initiative. Rendell said million-dollar projects like the infamous “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska make voters skeptical that the government is up to the task. “The view is that infrastructure is just a pork-barrel process … We need to bring back public confidence.” Some 70 current and former governors attended NGA’s centennial that celebrated governors’ role in crafting important national policies and programs in the last 100 years, such as welfare reform and the interstate highway system. Your comment?

Housing starts to sink 36 percent

Housing starts in 2008 are expected to be 36 percent lower than 2007 levels, creating three straight years of declines. according to a recent Portland Cement Association (PCA) economic research report. The toxic mix of weak economic conditions, tight credit conditions and tepid sales are causing huge housing inventory overhangs that must be cleaned up before housing construction can begin its recovery.

"Despite large home price declines and improved affordability, sales remain sluggish and offer little hope that the inventory glut will be worked off anytime soon," said PCA Chief Economist Ed Sullivan. "The economic environment remains weak, being dragged down by high energy costs and weak employment fundamentals."

Sullivan says current home inventories stand at a 10.5-month supply, more than double the 5-month supply that normally accelerates start activity. Continual cutbacks in starts and marginal gains in sales are expected to be more than offset by increases in housing foreclosures that will be added to the market's inventory in 2008 and 2009.

PCA projects an additional one-percent start decline in 2009, with recovery to take place in 2010. Even then, the onset of recovery will vary among regions and states. States that fully participated in the housing boom, like California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida, will have a disproportionally high number of defaults and foreclosures and even more delayed housing start recoveries. Your comment?