Rich Binsacca

The price of softwood lumber reached a record high today of $966 per thousand board feet, according to the Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite reflecting the highest volume-producing regions of the U.S. and Canada. The price tops the most recent peak of $955 set in September 2020 and continues a general pattern of escalation since initial COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions were put into effect nearly a year ago.

Here’s the secret to building market-savvy, energy-efficient, healthy, and comfortable homes with a net-zero balance at a competitive price point across multiple lots: There is no secret. The tools are already there, and so are the skills, with off-the-shelf products you get through your normal sup…

How will 2020 be remembered in the history of the U.S. housing industry? As one in which home builders bounced back quickly from a sudden stoppage of life as we knew it to lead a ravaged economy out of the COVID-19 wilderness? Or maybe one that saw a giant, accelerated leap forward in the use of tec…

They tore down an elementary school in my neighborhood this summer, replaced by a shiny, new (and far larger) school behind it. Since the old school occupied a busy corner, the entire demolition process was on full display for several weeks. Driving by one day, I spotted a kid who had stopped to wa…

Claims that the U.S. housing industry is not innovative are, in a word, crap. Or, at best, misguided. And that’s coming from someone who has, through these pages and other channels, championed innovation as a necessary element of operational improvement and business sustainability for builders.

Jerry Konter, NAHB chairman 2022Jerry Konter has spent 45 years building homes and small commercial buildings in Savannah, Ga., as well as serving in various roles in his local NAHB chapter.

We’ve all heard the adage, “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” It’s a nice sentiment, and applying your passion to your profession is an attractive idea. It’s also flawed.

We’ve all heard the adage, “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” It’s a nice sentiment, and applying your passion to your profession is an attractive idea. It’s also flawed.

Alicia Huey, a Birmingham, Ala.-based custom home builder and developer, became the 2023 Chairman of the Board for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) at the International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Las Vegas. She is the first woman to lead the association since it was founded in 1942.

I’m told the standard three-bed, two-bath suburban house, like the one I grew up in, no longer suits today’s buyers. What’s changed? Pretty much everything