May 2020

BANNJ President John Cioletti

President's Message

My best wishes to all our members and their families to be well and stay safe in these difficult times.  We appreciate all of our members and are here for you as an important resource for up to the minute housing information during this crisis and beyond. On May 6^th,  we held a virtual meeting with NAHB Chief Economist, Dr. Robert Dietz, who presented a webinar Economic Forecast on Building for the Future Post Covid-19.   

The presentation was extremely valuable information about the current state of the housing market and what will be coming up in the coming months and years.  Dr. Dietz ended his presentation on a positive note by stating  “I do believe housing will lead us into the rebound”.   

If you missed the webinar and wish to share the presentation slides with your colleagues and sales team, please contact Kathleen in the office at kathleen@bannj.org to request a copy.    

BANNJ recognizes and understands the challenges facing our members, and we are working tirelessly on your behalf with the New Jersey Builders Association (NJBA) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) to mitigate COVID-19 (coronavirus) effects on the residential construction and remodeling sector.     

In addition to the emails, web alerts and other communications that we send to our members from both state and national that impact local businesses, remember to check our COVID-19 updates link on the BANNJ website homepage for the latest information on job safety, current NJ and National legislation and much more at  http://njba.org/news-information/covid19updatesandresources/.     

We will continue focusing on our mission of providing unparalleled support for our members and to strengthen our community-now and in the future.

Welcome New Members (May)

Builder:

HRP Construction
Maurice Hornblass
9 Polito Avenue
Lyndhurst, NJ 07071
201-661-3062
caryn@hrpconst.com

Ferguson raises the bar for industry standards as the top-rated wholesale supplier of commercial and residential plumbing supplies. However, our expertise goes beyond plumbing. We are a diverse distributor that spans multiple businesses including HVAC/R, waterworks and industrial. In the past 63 years, we’ve grown from a local distributor to a $13.8 billion dollar company with more than 1,400 locations and over 23,000 associates nationwide. We pride ourselves on delivering world-class service and our customers know that “Nobody expects more from us than we do” is more than just a tagline to Ferguson associates. It’s a cultural belief that is demonstrated every day through exceptional customer service, product selection and industry knowledge.  For more information, contact Victoria Reczkowski at victoria.reczkowski@ferguson.com.

The Wall Street Journal Why home prices are rising during the pandemic The economy is shrinking, businesses are closing and jobs are disappearing due to the coronavirus pandemic. But in the housing market, prices keep chugging higher. (Subscription may be required.)

The Washington Post Signals of a rebound in buyer and renter demand Stay-at-home guidelines haven't stopped people from virtually looking for a new place to live. Data from Google search traffic and from home sales and rental websites indicate that after searches related to apartments and requests to view homes dropped in March and early April, they have picked up again.

HousingWire Americans are buying homes again, mortgage data shows Americans are returning to the housing market, as evidenced by a jump in applications for mortgages to purchase homes, though not at the same level as last year.

MarketWatch Mortgage rates rise from record lows — and signs are emerging that Americans are preparing to re-enter the home-buying market Mortgage rates remain close to the record lows set a week ago. And that could help move Americans off the sidelines and back into the home-buying market.

USA Today Housing markets in most big cities are struggling because of coronavirus shutdowns. But these markets are bucking the trend. Coronavirus has run roughshod over most of the nation's big-city real estate markets for more than six weeks now, paralyzing agents, halting showings and causing double-digit drops in listings and new inventory as frightened sellers withdraw their properties from consideration.

CNBC Weekly mortgage applications show real recovery in homebuying, as interest rates set another record low Homebuyers appear to be heading slowly back into the market, as the coronavirus-stricken economy begins to reopen.

USA Today Get me out of here! Americans flee crowded cities amid COVID-19, consider permanent moves Ben Greenzweig is itching to move his wife and three kids South, a plan that may get accelerated due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Washington Post The housing market faces its next crisis as May rent and mortgages come due For 13 years, Danny Catalanotto paid the more than $2,000 mortgage on his Bowie, Md., home on time every month. When work as a church organist dried up in mid-March, Catalanotto says, he expected his mortgage company to offer help. MarketWatch Home prices could fall by as much as 4% because of the coronavirus pandemic, Zillow says Will home prices fall as a result of the coronavirus pandemic? Zillow says yes. Economists at the real-estate company released a new report outlining their forecast of how the coronavirus outbreak could affect home prices and sales. The researchers outlined three different possible trajectories for the housing market, based on varying degrees of optimism regarding the recovery from the pandemic. Forbes Coronavirus crisis is magnifying the financial hardship of millennial homeowners The collapse in business activity during the coronavirus pandemic has elevated levels of concern among struggling homeowners about their ability to make mortgage payments over the next three months, according to a new Bankrate.com report, which found that Millennial homeowners suffering financial hardship are more likely to seek help.

**SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ANNUAL GOLF OUTING AT WHITE BEECHES GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB.  The outing originally scheduled for May 18^th has been postponed/rescheduled to Monday, September 28^th.

**All summer events are now tentative and will be determined based on National and State social distancing mandates concerning COVID-19.   Additional virtual educational meetings and special events may be added.

Thursday, July 9^th-Multi Association Summer Business Social@ Reno’s Appliance 5:30pm

Monday, September 28^th-Annual Golf Outing @ White Beeches Golf & Country Club

Thursday, October 29^th-Annual Pre-Holiday Industry Networking Party at Reno’s 5:30pm

Thursday, December 3^rd-Business Showcase & Beefsteak @ The Brownstone 5:00pm

Information and Registration for all events can be found on our website at https://members.bannj.org/events.