NAHB conducted a national poll of young adults ages 18 to 25 to find out how this age group feels about a career in the construction trades. The majority of young adults (74%) say they know the field in which they want to have a career. Of these, only 3% are interested in the construction…
In 2005, Congress established a number of energy-efficiency tax incentives related to housing that benefitted new home buyers and remodeling homeowners. These policies included the tax code section 45L credit for the construction of energy-efficient homes (including for-rent residences and low-rise apartments), the 25C credit for retrofitting/remodeling existing homes, and the 25D credit for the installation…
In June 2016, House Republicans introduced the outline of a tax reform proposal (a.k.a. the blueprint). The blueprint includes significant changes to how business income would be taxed. In particular, corporate taxation would move toward a cash-flow tax (CFT). In their most basic form, CFTs tax income based on where the income ultimately flows. In…
The price of lumber, from framing to structural panels, has increased in recent weeks with some prices rising more than 30%. Softwood lumber prices have been relatively steady since 2014. During this period, the largest one-week price increase of framing lumber (+6.8%), as measured by the Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite Index, occurred in the…
The prices of ready-mix concrete, gypsum, and softwood lumber fell 0.2%, 3.5%, and 0.1%, respectively, in January according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. OSB prices ticked up 1.8%, reversing the 1.3% price decline in December. Long-term trends in gypsum and ready-mix concrete prices are in focus this month,…
With tax preparation season well underway, it is a good time to examine the use of the home office deduction. Often cited as a “red flag” for tax audits, the home office deduction is a legitimate business deduction particularly important for certain professionals and small business owners. Moreover – from the housing economics perspective –…
