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QUOTE OF
THE WEEK... "All that matters is
if you can look in the mirror and honestly tell the person you see there, that
you've done your best."--John McKay, American football coach
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE... Of course, sometimes you do your best and the results come in a bit less than that. We're sure builders were doing their best in February, yet Housing Starts dropped a precipitous 17.0% to a disappointing 897,000 annual rate. The Negative Nellies in the media got all bent out of shape over this, but let's look at some of the other data during the month. Retail sales were down, but not Internet and mail order buying. Manufacturing numbers were off, but utility businesses did very well. Could it have been the weather? The fact is, this February logged the coldest temperatures for the most people since 1979.
For 23 states, it was among the top-10 coldest Februarys since they started recording such things in 1895. In many areas of the country, it was nearly impossible to break ground. In spite of this, single-family starts are still up 0.7% in the past year. Builders remain optimistic going forward, as new Building Permits were up 3.0% in February, to a 1.092 unit annual rate, which solidly beat consensus expectations. Permits for single-family units are now up 2.8% versus a year ago. The National Association of Home Builders confidence index in March slipped to 53 from February's 55, but readings above 50 still show more respondents say conditions are good, rather than bad.
BUSINESS TIP OF THE WEEK... Be relentless following up on leads and referrals. Plan the next steps to take with all your top prospects. Track your progress on a spreadsheet or wipe-off board.
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE... Of course, sometimes you do your best and the results come in a bit less than that. We're sure builders were doing their best in February, yet Housing Starts dropped a precipitous 17.0% to a disappointing 897,000 annual rate. The Negative Nellies in the media got all bent out of shape over this, but let's look at some of the other data during the month. Retail sales were down, but not Internet and mail order buying. Manufacturing numbers were off, but utility businesses did very well. Could it have been the weather? The fact is, this February logged the coldest temperatures for the most people since 1979.
For 23 states, it was among the top-10 coldest Februarys since they started recording such things in 1895. In many areas of the country, it was nearly impossible to break ground. In spite of this, single-family starts are still up 0.7% in the past year. Builders remain optimistic going forward, as new Building Permits were up 3.0% in February, to a 1.092 unit annual rate, which solidly beat consensus expectations. Permits for single-family units are now up 2.8% versus a year ago. The National Association of Home Builders confidence index in March slipped to 53 from February's 55, but readings above 50 still show more respondents say conditions are good, rather than bad.
BUSINESS TIP OF THE WEEK... Be relentless following up on leads and referrals. Plan the next steps to take with all your top prospects. Track your progress on a spreadsheet or wipe-off board.
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