September 18, 2019 Industry Update

On September 18, 2019, BIA-Hawaii's Board of Directors' President, Marshall Hickox and BIA-Hawaii's CEO Gladys Quinto-Marrone, witnessed Mayor Kirk Caldwell sign a new law aimed at streamlining the permit process for commercial construction projects. Check out the Hawaii News Now article for more information. Click here

NAHB State Representative Update

(as of September 16, 2019)

As part of your membership with BIA-Hawaii, you are also a member of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), a large network of over 80,000 members just like you. A huge benefit is the advocacy work NAHB does in Washington, DC, on behalf of our industry. In order to filter down what they are doing for us, we have a State Representative, Dean Uchida, BIA-Hawaii's Immediate Past President of the board, and below is his latest report. 

Dean is also on the national board and below is another report, which covers governance changes, the permanent home for the International Builders Show (IBS), 2020 economic forecast, trades education, and certifying homes through NAHB's Green Building Program.
 
IBS permanent home—Las Vegas: 
The LV Convention Center will be the permanent home of IBS starting in 2023. IBS is in Las Vegas in 2020 and in Orlando in 2021 and 2022.

NAHB Economic Outlook: 
Robert Dietz, NAHB’s Chief Economist, is projecting a soft recession in the next 18 to 36 months, most likely at the end of 2021. He’s watching the trade issues and also how banks and lenders respond to current market conditions. As banks tighten up on lending, it will accelerate the recession by choking off capital investment and loans.
 
Dietz also said that China is doing two things to fight the US tariffs. First, they are devaluing their currency which makes it more expensive for their citizens but also strengthens the US dollar. The second thing is that China is shipping product thru Taiwan, India, Korea, Vietnam and Mexico and having the product stamped made in that country to avoid the US tariffs. 
 
Dietz is also monitoring home buying activities in counties across the country that are home to manufacturing companies because new home buying in these communities are usually driven by lower volume of manufacturing due to the tariffs. 

Governance:
Immediately after IBS 2020, the governance structure will shift from the Transitional Board to the Corporate Board and from the Board of Directors to the Leadership Council. The Leadership Council sets policy and the Corporate Board implements them as well as handles the day-to-day issues of the association.
 
Home Innovation Research Laboratory (HIRL): 
The HIRL developed the Green Build program for NAHB and provided the process for home builders to get their homes certified. They have been approached by many of the large home building companies to develop a process that will certify homes that are compliant with the new energy conservation codes. The industry has found that certification for compliance is not consistent across the states. Certification can vary up to 30% in some markets for similarly built homes being certified by different entities. The home building members of NAHB wanted consistency in the certification process, which is being developed by HIRL. They anticipate the roll out of the certification program during the first quarter of 2020.  BIA-HAWAII WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR, ESPECIALLY  IF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU GOES FORWARD WITH THE ADOPTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AND CONSERVATION CODE (IECC), AS PROPOSED.
 
Home Builders Institute: 
Ed Brady, President and CEO of Home Builders Institute (HBI), wants to expand the Schools for Skills program nationwide. His goal is to add 100 new high school licenses each year. They have a grant from Home Depot, as well as money from NAHB’s National Housing Endowment, to market and expand the program. Much of the government funds HBI receives are dedicated to the programs for instructors and course materials for public schools and correctional institutions. They also currently run the Schools for Skills program in 8 to 10 military bases right now to assist veterans in their transition to re-enter into the civilian workforce after their service in the military.
 
Membership and Retention: 
Membership and retention will be key issues for senior officers now and going into 2020.