Existing-home sales are on the decline across the U.S. According to the latest release from the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales dropped 4.9% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.21 million. Sales are also down more than 5% from March 2018. "It is not surprising to see a retreat after a powerful surge in sales in ...

Housing starts saw a slight fall during the month of March, falling for the second month in a row, according to Wells Fargo. Of the past seven months, six saw declines. Wells Fargo attributes some of this fall to poor weather conditions during the end of 2018, while lower mortgage rates have only seen "limited success" at breathing life back into t...

Illinois is looking to follow the example led by California and Maryland, which are holding general contractors liable for unpaid wages of subcontractors. House Bill 2838 would amend the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act and take effect on contracts entered into on or after July 1. The bill was referred to the Senate's Assignments Committee ...

Builder confidence for new single-family homes is at its highest level since October after a slight uptick in the April National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This month's HMI rose one point to 63 after back-to-back months of 62 in February and March. "Builders report solid demand for new single-family homes b...

United States ex rel. Am. Civ. Constr., LLC v. Hirani Eng'g & Land Surveying, P.C. , 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 200829 (D.D.C. Nov. 28, 2018). The case involved the construction of a levee wall on the National Mall in Washington, DC. In September 2010, the Army Corps of Engineers awarded Hirani Engineering & Land Surveying, P.C. ("Hirani") the p...

Timeframes are imperative on construction projects. Ground-breaking events, actual start dates of the construction project, etc. are all important, but delivery dates and completion of the project are in a league of their own during the building process. Delivery (first and last furnishing) and completion dates are of vital importance to those part...

When extending credit to a customer in the construction industry, beyond the credit application, credit managers also need to be mindful of critical job information. Just as creditors give new customers a credit application before extending credit for the first time, job information needs to be gathered for each of the customer's projects. Should t...

Jobsite inspections on a construction project have many purposes. For credit managers, having intel on jobsite conditions can determine whether a project is on schedule, therefore, giving lenders a better idea of when to expect payment. According to U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, construction projects may soon have more eyes on jobsites ...

March proved there's always a job in construction as employment increased month-over-month (MoM) and year-over-year (YOY), according to Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). Based on ABC's review of Bureau of Labor Statistics' data, 16,000 net new jobs opened up in construction last month, particularly for residential and nonresidential specia...

Nonresidential spending in construction increased from January to February, this time rising by just over 1%, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of U.S. Census Bureau. In total, nonresidential spending amounted to $773.8 billion, a 4.8% increase over this same time from last year. Despite some of these numbers going ...