Construction & Real Estate News

(GlobeSt.com) Home builder confidence drops amid deteriorating conditions. Higher construction costs, rising home prices and building supply shortages have combined to drop builder confidence to its lowest level in 13 months, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. Building material prices have increased a record 13% year to date and 19.4% over the past 12 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported. By contrast, the average rise of building materials prices between January and July was +1.2% from 2015 through 2019 (the most recent data available), less than one-tenth of 2021’s current gain. Read more.

(GlobeSt.com) Lumber price drops fueling multifamily building boom. The price of lumber hit $480.40 per thousand board feet the previous week, a low watermark since July 2020, and CNBC reports that lumber prices should hit their 13th consecutive week of loss this week. Read more.

(GlobeSt.com) Urban multifamily bounces back. In urban core counties, revenue per available square foot has recovered most on B and C apartments in the South, Midwest, and in secondary and tertiary markets according to a new report from Cushman & Wakefield. Read more.

(GlobeSt.com) The homebuyer bidding wars seem to be calming down. An increase in housing supply and seasonal trends are likely behind this new trend. Redfin says the homebuyer bidding war seen by its agents has dropped to the lowest rate since January. About 60% of offers written by Redfin agents faced competition in July, down from 65.5% in June. The rate of 60% in July was a steep fall off from the pandemic high of 74.1% this April but still higher than the 57.9% year-over-year when the housing market was recovering following a shutdown caused by pandemic restrictions. Learn more.

(New Jersey Business) NJEDA accepting applications for commercial projects under ERG program. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) is now accepting applications for commercial projects under the Economic Redevelopment and Growth (ERG) Program. A link to the application and more information is available at https://www.njeda.com/erg. Learn more.

 

(Accounting Today) Truckers must file highway use tax form this month. Taxpayers who’ve registered or who are required to register large trucks and buses must file the 2021 Form 2290, “Heavy Highway Vehicle Use Tax Return,” by August 31. Read more.

(The Tax Advisor) Business meal deductions after the TCJA. The IRS provided the sought-after guidance in October 2020. Taxpayers and their advisers must carefully follow the rules set out in the final regulations for substantiating business food and beverage expenses to ensure a deduction is allowed for the expenses. Read more.

(CNBC) Retail sales drop worse-than-expected 1.1% in July as rising COVID fears hit consumers. Learn why. Read Marcus & Millichap’s research brief on retail sales for more detailed information.

(Kiplinger) How to calculate the break-even age for taking Social Security. When it comes to maximizing your Social Security benefits, there are a lot of elements to take into consideration. One factor that can be especially enlightening is your Social Security break-even age. Here's how to calculate it, and how it could help you time when you take your Social Security benefits. Read more.

(New Jersey Business) Revitalized UEZ program back to full operations after 10+ years without funding. Acting NJ Governor Sheila Oliver signed into law the Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) Reform Bill (A5580/S3600) on August 17. The legislation restores and revises the UEZ Program and appropriates $42.5 million in Zone Assistance Funds (ZAF) for FY22, bringing the program back to full operation after having been without a funding source for more than 10 years. Read more.

(NJ Business) What NJ employers need to know about independent contractor law changes. The New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA) has updated its Fast Fact document, Independent Contractors and Worker Misclassification, to provide businesses with the latest information on changes to worker misclassification laws and penalties, which now include stop-work orders that could shut down all an employer’s worksites and business locations if the state labor commissioner says workers are being misclassified as independent contractors. Learn more.

(Marcus & Millichap) Employers sustained aggressive hiring in July as delta variant overshadows outlook. Job creation surpassed 900,000 new positions for the second consecutive month in July, lowering the unemployment rate 50 basis points month over month to 5.4%. While above the historically low 3.5% unemployment recorded just prior to the pandemic, the measure is still below the 5.9% average from 2000-2019. Read more.

(Philadelphia Business Journal) These three SBA Covid-19 small business programs still have money. Business owners can still benefit from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, and Targeted EIDL Advance. Learn more.

Feel free to contact any member of our team at (610) 828-1900 (PA) or (732) 341-3893 (NJ) with questions. Rich Higgins, CPA, managing principal – New Jersey office can be contacted at Richard.Higgins@McCarthy.CPA. I can be reached at Marty.McCarthy@McCarthy.CPA. As always, we are happy to help.