The Rivera Stone House was built as a 1,200 square foot guest house on a 65-acre vineyard in Napa, California.  The house is inspired by the Tuscan vernacular.  There are no square corners, so it looks like it has a bunch of additions, resulting in a home full of intersecting additions, acute angles and surprising spaces.  It has shed roofs and walls intersecting at almost haphazard spots, along with stone, stucco, wood and terra cotta building materials.  At the heart…

Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending January 5th, total mortgage activity increased 9.9% from the previous week, and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate rose five basis points to 6.81%. After the total mortgage activity index fell 10.7% in the last week of December, it bounced back in the first week of the year…. Read More ›

According to the Federal Reserve’s latest G.19 Consumer Credit report, total consumer credit outstanding totaled $5.00 trillion (seasonally adjusted) for the first time in November—a 5.7% monthly increase (seasonally adjusted annual rate). The increase reflected a 17.7% surge in revolving credit and a more modest 1.5% rise in nonrevolving credit (SAAR). The level of revolving debt (primarily credit card debt)… Read More ›

1. Single-Family in the City The line between urban and suburban is blurring, especially as the millennials enter the home buying market. Historically, the inability of cities to retain families was partly due to the homogeneity of urban housing stock. If you wanted single-family you had to move to the suburbs and take your money with you. Cities that change their zoning to accommodate single family attached and even detached housing stock will be better equipped to keep that tax…

The year-over-year (YOY) growth rate for residential building worker wages decelerated to 0.6% in June 2023. Over the past five months, wage growth accelerated moderately and reached 4.0% in November. Overall, average hourly earnings for residential building workers* increased at a relatively slower pace in the past year, compared to the peak rate of 8% in October 2021. According to… Read More ›

December’s jobs report concludes another solid year of job hiring in 2023. In December, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 216,000, and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7% for the second month. Job gains moderated in 2023 with an average 225,000 monthly employment growth but remained strong. In December, wage growth accelerated to a 4.1% year-over-year (YOY) growth rate,… Read More ›

Roy L. Diez, Class of 2008 Roy L. Diez was associate publisher and director of editorial for Professional Builder magazine, having served with the magazine for 34 years. He started as new products editor, moving up to associate editor and managing editor, then becoming editor-in-chief in 1979. In 1989, he was named editorial director and, in 1992, was appointed a vice president of Cahners, now Reed Business Information, Professional Builder’s parent company. Diez has won many top editorial awards, including…

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 37 states and the District of Columbia in November compared to the previous month, while 13 states lost jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 199,000 in November, following a gain of 150,000 jobs in October. On a month-over-month basis, employment data was most favorable in Florida,… Read More ›

The first-ever townhome to receive this honor, this project is located in the Pearl neighborhood of Portland, Oregon’s River District.  Once characterized by warehouses and vacant rail yards, the district was targeted by the city for redevelopment in 1994 with the goal of adding 5000 residential units, as well as accompanying public improvements.  In the tradition of the classic East Coast brownstone, each of the larger units have private entrances, gourmet kitchens, luxurious master suite and baths, flex space, a…

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in the third quarter of 2023. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the percent change in real GDP increase ranged from 9.7 percent in Kansas to 0.7 percent in Arkansas. Nationwide, growth in real GDP (measured on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis)… Read More ›