December column for Builder & Developer magazine now online

My column for the December 2014 issue of Builder and Developer magazine is now posted online.

For this issue, entitled "Homebuilding Year in Review," I provided my annual review of the past year and what we can expect in 2015. An excerpt:

Last year, I wrote about a housing rebound that seemed to finally have solid legs after a few false starts since the Great Recession. The good news for 2014 is that both the economy and the housing market have continued their slow yet gradual climb back to normal.

Indeed, the NAHB's Leading Markets Index, which measures how well metropolitan areas are performing relative to their last ‘normal’ market, rose to .90 in the third quarter of 2014. This means that the combination of permits, prices and employment levels are back to 90 percent of where they should be at a national level, although most of this rebound has been due to new permits and rising prices more than robust, uniform employment gains...

To read the entire column, click here.

To read the entire December 2014 issue in digital format, click here.