The Housing Chronicles Blog

Happy Memorial Day Weekend from Housing Chronicles

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Fri, 25 May 2012 21:00:00 +0000

The Housing Chronicles Blog would like to wish you and your families a very happy and safe Memorial Day holiday weekend. As the unofficial start of summer, we know there will be lots of local trips taken to the beach, to the mountains, or even to the backyard BBQ. But this holiday is also a time of reflection, and one in which we honor those who gave their lives so we’re able to continue our own in the United States.

So just how did Memorial Day start and evolve?

Memorial Day, an American holiday observed on the last Monday of May, honors men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades.

Early Observances of Memorial Day

The Civil War claimed more lives than any conflict in U.S. history, requiring the establishment of the country’s first national cemeteries. By the late 1860s Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to these countless fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers.

It is unclear where exactly this tradition originated; numerous different communities may have independently initiated the memorial gatherings. Nevertheless, in 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. Waterloo—which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—was chosen because it hosted an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.

Decoration Day

On May 5, 1862, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed. The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.

On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there. Many Northern states held similar commemorative events and reprised the tradition in subsequent years; by 1890 each one had made Decoration Day an official state holiday. Many Southern states, on the other hand, continued to honor their dead on separate days until after World War I.

Evolution of Memorial Day

Memorial Day, as Decoration Day gradually came to be known, originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But during World War I the United States found itself embroiled in another major conflict, and the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars.

For decades, Memorial Day continued to be observed on May 30, the date Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees; the change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.

Memorial Day Traditions

Cities and towns across the United States host Memorial Day parades each year, often incorporating military personnel and members of veterans’ organizations. Some of the largest parades take place in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. Americans also observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries and memorials. On a less somber note, many people throw parties and barbecues on the holiday, perhaps because it unofficially marks the beginning of summer.

Source: History.com

BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 5/25/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:28:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 5/25/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

NAHB's Housing Market Index rises to highest level in five years
New home sales rise to second-highest level in two years
FHFA House Price Index shows gain in first quarter of 2012 for home purchases.
Initial unemployment claims fall by 2,000 in latest survey
Mortgage applications rise by 3.8% in latest survey as refinances rise by 5.6%

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Want to make sure your company or event is included in the events calendar? Contact editor Dani Smith at dsmith@penpubinc.com.

Where do they stand? Obama vs. Romney on housing policy

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:41:00 +0000

After several years of false starts, there finally appear to be more green shoots appearing in the nation’s housing market which indicate a slow yet actual rebound. Sales of both new and existing homes are on the mend, affordability is at generational highs, and the dreaded tsunami of foreclosures expected to lower prices even further have largely been bought up by investors to re-purpose as rental properties. Even better, according to Moody’s housing analyst Celia Chen, homeowners will begin to favor newly built homes versus distressed homes which are damaged.

Nonetheless, because the economy remains the top concern of most voters in the 2012 Presidential election, how President Barack Obama and the GOP’s presumptive nominee Mitt Romney influence housing policy is of critical importance to homebuilders and homeowners alike. As a political Independent for well over a decade, I may have no abiding loyalty towards either major party, but I do certainly want what’s best for the industry and, by extension, the country.

According to the NAHB, the housing sector normally accounts for 15% of the nation’s GDP, and is one of the few sectors which cannot be out-sourced to other countries across the globe. Based on population growth and demographics, the nation will have to build 17 million new residences just to keep up with demand over the next decade, and yet for now the industry remains largely hamstrung by deferred household formations, limited construction financing, and a flawed appraisal system in which new homes erroneously get compared against deeply discounted distressed and foreclosed units.

So can market forces alone help guide this all-important sector of the U.S. economy to health, or will it continue to need more help? The answer to that question depends on whom you ask.

For Mitt Romney, while there is nothing on his campaign Web site which specifically addresses housing, he seems to rely more on the private market to sort things out. According to Glenn Hubbard, an economic adviser to Romney, the domination of housing finance by government entities such as the FHA, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is simply not sustainable and must be phased out in favor of private lenders.

At a recent campaign event in Florida, Romney also reportedly mused about getting rid of agencies such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as part of his plans to simplify the federal government. As for foreclosures, he prefers to let the free market let prices hit ‘rock bottom’ as opposed to government policies which would seek to make such declines more orderly.

President Obama, on the other hand, seems to believe that continued intervention by the federal government – at least in the short to medium run -- is essential to providing adequate mortgage capital and even to help underwater borrowers refinance, with restrictions, to today’s historically low rates. He probably doesn’t have much choice: given that his previous attempts to bolster the housing market haven’t worked at even close to the scale that is necessary – with less than 20% of homeowners eligible for loan modifications -- if government intervention is to work at all, the policies must be more aggressive.

More recently, Obama seems to have absorbed this criticism, unveiling more than a half dozen plans to encourage refinancing, to reduce the overhang of debts owed by underwater homeowners, and to expand existing aid programs even to borrowers who were speculators or simply took on too much debt. These latest moves seem as much practical as they are political, since the previous obsession with refusing to help those who made financial mistakes has really acted as a structural brake on the economic rebound. Schadenfreude may feel good to the individual, but it does nothing to fix the housing market.

Since the Obama Administration has put the housing market back on its front burner, I’d expect the Romney campaign to do the same. But given that the federal government continues to guarantee or insure more than 90% of all home mortgage activity through FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, candidate Romney will have to offer specifics on just what, when and how the private sector will successfully step up to the plate.

BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 5/23/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:37:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 5/23/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Both sales and prices for existing homes rise in April
Survey of economists reveals more optimism for the job and housing markets

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

Want to make sure your company or event is included in the events calendar? Contact editor Dani Smith at dsmith@penpubinc.com.

BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 5/21/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:15:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 5/21/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Leading indicators drop by 0.1% in April as rebound remains slow but choppy
Philadelphia Fed reports slowing growth in mid-Atlantic states in May
Initial unemployment claims unchanged from previous week at 370,000
Federal Reserve minutes show continued commitment to keeping interest rates near zero through late 2014

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BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 5/18/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Fri, 18 May 2012 18:13:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 5/18/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

April housing starts jump by 29.9% over same month of 2011 and 2.6% above previous month
April building permits rise by 23.7% above same month of 2011 but fall by 7.0% from previous month
Industrial production rises by 1.1% in April, far above expectations and the biggest jump since December 2010
Mortgage applications rise by 9.2% in latest survey

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BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 5/16/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:44:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 5/16/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Builder confidence rose five points in May
April retail sales up by 6.4% over same month of 2011
CPI unchanged in April; core prices rise by 0.2%
Empire State manufacturing activity accelerates in May

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BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 5/14/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:34:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 5/14/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Consumer sentiment in May hits four-year high
Producer Price Index fell by 0.2% in April; first drop of 2012 and the biggest decline since October 2011
U.S. trade deficit widened in May as both exports and imports hit records

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

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BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 5/11/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:33:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 5/11/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Both wholesale sales and inventories rose slightly in March
Mortgage applications rose by 1.7% in latest survey
Initial unemployment claims fell by 1,000 in latest report

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

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BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 5/9/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:18:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 5/09/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

100 markets on NAHB's Improving List in May, virtually unchanged from April
Consumer credit jumps in March

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

Want to make sure your company or event is included in the events calendar? Contact editor Dani Smith at dsmith@penpubinc.com.

BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 5/7/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 5/07/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Employers fill 115,000 positions in April as the unemployment rate remains little changed at 8.1%
Initial unemployment claims fall to 365,000 in latest report
Services sector grows for 28th consecutive month but at a slower pace
Factory orders fall by 1.5% while inventories rose by 0.3% in March

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

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BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 5/04/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:19:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 5/04/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Private sector employment rose by 119,000 during March
Planned job cuts rise slightly in April; monthly average so far in 2012 below that of 2011
Labor productivity drops by 0.5% in first quarter 2012 as labor costs rise by 2.0%
Overall mortgage applications rise by 0.1% as purchase loans rise by 2.9% in latest survey

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BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 5/2/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:48:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 5/02/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Construction spending in March up by 6% over same month of 2011 and rose by 6.7% for 1Q 2012
Manufacturing activity expands for 33rd consecutive month
Chicago Business Barometer dips for second month; has been expanding since October 2009
Personal income rises by 0.4% in March as consumer spending rises by 0.3%

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

Want to make sure your company or event is included in the events calendar? Contact editor Dani Smith at dsmith@penpubinc.com.

BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 4/30/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:51:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 4/30/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Consumer confidence remains largely unchanged in April as consumers await more jobs and lower gas prices
GDP increased by annual rate of 2.2% in the first quarter of 2012 according to advance estimate
Gross domestic purchase index rose by 2.4% in the first quarter of 2012, up from 1.1% the previous quarter
Wages rise by 1.9% for 12-month period ending with March 2012

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

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BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 4/27/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:29:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 4/27/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Pending home sales rise in March as housing market continues to signal a recovery
Fed upgrades economic outlook, still plans on keeping interest rates low through late 2014
Durable goods orders fall as shipments and inventories continue to rise
Overall mortgage applications dip in latest survey even as new purchase loan demand increases

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

Want to make sure your company or event is included in the events calendar? Contact editor Dani Smith at dsmith@penpubinc.com.

Multigenerational housing goes mainstream

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:37:00 +0000

Photo credit: NY Times

Over the last year, the concept of multi-generational housing has been steadily gaining attention from the mainstream press, many of whom have been focused on the NextGen line of new homes offered by Lennar.

In the last few months alone, I've been asked to weigh in on this subject by FoxNews, the L.A. Times and American Public Media's Marketplace, so I thought this was a timely subject to address here.

Lennar’s NextGen homes offer a ‘home within a home,’ offering its own private living quarters suitable for everyone from visiting in-laws or unemployed family members to unrelated tenants helping chipping in for the mortgage payment. And yet Lennar is far from the only builder offering this concept, as variations from builders including Taylor Morrison, The New Home Company and even affordable housing providers such as Bridge Housing and Jamboree Housing Corp. have been built.

Although once quite common, the trend of living with relatives declined with the rise of the suburbs, but is now staging a comeback due to economic conditions. For example, the share of multi-generational households approached 25% in 1940 before steadily dropping to just 12.1% by 1980. By 2010, however, that share had rebounded back to 18.3%, and, according to a study by the Pew Research Center, is far higher for minority communities in which family elders are readily welcomed as active members of the household.

In 2009, 25.8% of Asian households, 23.7% of black households and 23.4% of Hispanic households included multiple generations versus just 13.1% for white households. It’s also much more common for foreign-born households (24.6%) versus those born in the U.S. (15.6%). The highest percentage of these households by age group included those 85 and older (21.5%), 25 to 34 (21.1%) and 55 to 64 (20.9%), which would point to the elderly as well as recent retirees and boomerang children.

According to Adrian Foley, President of Brookfield Homes’ Southland Division, although they are also addressing the multi-generational trend, the overall demand for such homes may be limited. “I think that it’s not a passing fad because statistics don’t lie, but I don’t think it’s for everybody and won’t be a paradigm shift for the industry,” he offers. “We might have some pent-up demand that will level out and then get back to normal demand.”

For Brookfield, although most of their move-up homes have long included areas for visiting in-laws, it’s only been recently that their plans include separate sections which can be locked off and include their own entrances. Their interior designers then model it as a combination of alternative uses that can be adjusted as a resident’s life journey changes.

“We’re big on efficiency competing with the resale market: maintenance and cost of household ownership is one big area on which we can compete versus the resale market,” concludes Foley. “We’ve focused on both the entry-level and move-down buyers, so we’re trying to come up with attached housing that meets the needs for both ends of that barbell.” Much of that philosophy includes providing accessibility, locations close to activities which aren’t funded by HOA dues, and a cost that’s affordable.

There is, however, some potential confusion about Lennar’s NextGen new brand of homes. That’s because there’s also the NextGen Home Experience produced by Washington-based iShowMedia. For over a decade, iShow has been showcasing emerging trends, products and services for the American home at trade shows such as IBS and CES, online, NextGenTV and in traditional media. With over 25,000 plans, the company is now beginning to leverage their brand name and license their name to various builders through a pilot program now underway. Most of these partners would build single-family communities instead of condominiums or apartments.

Adds company president Paul Barnett, “People are going to live in their homes longer and that’s why we got into this flexibility. Aging in place, universal design works for everybody. Not that the whole house needs to be that way, but part of it should.”

Want to know more about this trend and how to address it in your projects? Contact us at MetroIntelligence for details!

BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 4/25/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:57:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 4/25/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

March new home sales dip from February but still 7.5% above same month of 2011
Decline in S&P/CaseShiller Home Price Indices slowing
FHFA House Price Index posts first 12-month increase since July 2006 to July 2007 interval
Consumer Confidence Index unchanged in April from May as consumers remain 'cautiously optimistic.'

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

Want to make sure your company or event is included in the events calendar? Contact editor Dani Smith at dsmith@penpubinc.com.

Housing Chronicles hits 10,000 monthly page views

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:02:00 +0000

According to the most recent statistics from Blogger, The Housing Chronicles Blog has rebounded to over 10,000 page views over the past month!

Thank you to both our regular readers as well as new visitors who find us through search engines such as Google or Bing, as well as referring sites such as the great Calculated Risk blog.

So how does 10,000 page views relate to traditional building industry publications? Although we're still a minnow compared to much larger and established titles, here's how we currently rank against the most recently published print circulation figures of popular building and development trade magazines:

Builder - 103,394
Professional Builder - 96,116
Builder and Developer - 40,000+
DCC Journal - 30,000+
Green Home Builder - 28,000+
Multi-Family Executive (MFE) - 20,700
Affordable Housing Finance - 11,000
The Housing Chronicles Blog - 10,000+
Big Builder - 8,600 (currently on a hiatus in the printed form)
Builder & Remodeler - 8,000

Not bad for one guy with an idea and an interest in blogging!

This blog first launched in November of 2007 as a way to cover stories you might not have noted. More recently, it's been the place for you to make sure you never miss an important story about housing and economics with the recently launched contribution by MetroIntelligence to the three-times-per-week BuilderBytes email newsletter.

Looking to reach our readers with a targeted advertising campaign? Contact us for more details!

BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 4/23/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:02:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 4/23/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicates continued improvement; high optimism about the six-month outlooks
Philadelphia Fed survey reports moderate manufacturing expansion; firms optimistic about future hiring plans
Mortgage applications increase by 6.9% in latest survey
Industrial production rose by 5.4% in first quarter of 2012

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

Want to make sure your company or event is included in the events calendar? Contact editor Dani Smith at dsmith@penpubinc.com.

BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 4/20/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:02:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 4/20/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Existing home sales dip in March but still 5.2% above the same month of 2011
Leading Economic Index rose by 0.3% in March, increasing for the sixth consecutive month
Initial unemployment claims fall by 2,000 to 386,000
Business inventories up by 0.6% since January and by 7.6% since February 2011
March retail sales rise by 6.5% since March of 2011

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

Want to make sure your company or event is included in the events calendar? Contact editor Dani Smith at dsmith@penpubinc.com.

BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 4/18/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:59:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 4/18/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Building permits in March up by 4.5% since February and by 30.1% since March of 2011
NAHB Housing Market Index drips after seven months of consecutive increases
Housing starts in March down by 5.8% since February but 10.3% above March of 2011
March retail sales rise 6.5% since March of 2011

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

Want to make sure your company or event is included in the events calendar? Contact editor Dani Smith at dsmith@penpubinc.com.

BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 4/16/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:59:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 4/16/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Consumer expectations rise to highest level since September 2009
CPI rose by 2.7% over the past year; core prices rose by 2.3%

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

Want to make sure your company or event is included in the events calendar? Contact editor Dani Smith at dsmith@penpubinc.com.

Happy Friday the 13th!

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:23:00 +0000

Happy Friday the 13th from MetroIntelligence! Have you ever wondered about the history of Friday the 13th and the superstitions attached to it? According to folklorists, there is no written evidence for a “Friday the 13th” superstition before the 19th century.

The earliest known documented reference in English occurs in Henry Sutherland Edwards‘ 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini, who died on a Friday 13th.

He [Rossini] was surrounded to the last by admiring friends; and if it be true that, like so many Italians, he regarded Fridays as an unlucky day and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that one Friday 13th of November he died.^[4]

Several theories have been proposed about the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition.

One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and that Friday is an unlucky day.

In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 successors of Muhammad in Shia Islam, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century’s The Canterbury Tales,and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys, begin new projects or deploy releases in production. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s.
One author, noting that references are all but nonexistent before 1907 but frequently seen thereafter, has argued that its popularity derives from the publication that year of Thomas W. Lawson‘s popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth, in which an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.
Records of the superstition are rarely found before the 20th century, when it became extremely common. The connection between the Friday the 13th superstition and the Knights Templar was popularized in the 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code and in the 1989 work “Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry“. On Friday, 13 October 1307, hundreds of the Knights Templar were arrested in France, an action apparently motivated financially and undertaken by the efficient royal bureaucracy to increase the prestige of the crown. Philip IV was the force behind this ruthless move, but it has also tarnished the historical reputation of Clement V. From the very day of Clement V’s coronation, the king falsely charged the Templars with heresy, immorality and abuses, and the scruples of the Pope were compromised by a growing sense that the burgeoning French State might not wait for the Church, but would proceed independently. However, experts agree that this is a relatively recent correlation, and most likely a modern-day invention.

Source: Wikipedia

BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 4/13/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:10:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 4/13/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Federal Reserve Beige Book shows continued improvement; multifamily construction still on a roll.
15-year fixed loan interest rates drop to new all-time low
Producer Price Index unchanged in March; rose by just 2.8% over the past year
Initial unemployment claims rise by 13,000 in most recent survey

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

Want to make sure your company or event is included in the events calendar? Contact editor Dani Smith at dsmith@penpubinc.com.

BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 4/11/12

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Duffy) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:24:00 +0000

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 4/11/12 on the Web.

In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

Lennar finding success with multi-generational housing, but how big is the market?
Wholesale sales in February 2012 up by 9.3% since February 2011 as total inventories rise by 9.3%
SmallBusiness Optimism Index fell in March even as owners report largest increase in new jobs per firm in a year

Want to advertise in the newsletter and reach over 130,000 readers? Contact National Sales Manager Nick Cosan at nkosan@penpubinc.com.

Want to make sure your company or event is included in the events calendar? Contact editor Dani Smith at dsmith@penpubinc.com.