Reprographics 101

6-16-11 10:00 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)– U.S. home construction rose modestly in May and the previous month’s results were better than initially estimated, but the long- troubled sector remains a sluggish part of the economy.

Construction of homes and apartments last month increased 3.5% from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 560,000, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Figures for April were revised upward to an annualized pace of 541,000.

Compared with the same month a year earlier, overall new-home construction in May was down 3.4%.

Newly issued building permits, a gauge of future construction, rose 8.7% from a month earlier to an annual rate of 612,000, the highest level since December.

The results were better than analysts had expected. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected housing starts would rise by 4.8% to an annual rate of 548,000. Permits had been projected to fall 0.7% to an annual rate of 559,000.

Construction of single-family homes, which made up about two-thirds of all starts, rose by 3.7% from a month earlier. Construction of multifamily homes with at least two units, a volatile part of the market, was up 2.9% on a monthly basis.

Though the overall economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.8% in the first three months of 2011, the battered housing sector detracted from economic growth, subtracting 0.07 percentage point from the nation’s gross domestic product. It was the fourth quarter out of the past six in which housing has been a drag on growth.

Builders are remaining idle due to weak demand from buyers, many of whom have become nervous as U.S. home prices have fallen to the lowest point of the five- year housing bust. Many buyers have been choosing foreclosures and other previously owned homes rather than new homes, which typically are more expensive.

Reflecting weak demand, the number of homes under construction in May was at the lowest level on records dating back to 1970.

The housing sector’s results had improved last year, when consumers rushed to take advantage of U.S. government tax credits that mainly benefited first-time home-buyers. But since the offer expired last spring, orders and closings have plunged, causing revenues to tumble.

Aside from low demand, builders have also had problems getting financing to start projects and have been coping with rising costs for materials.

On Wednesday, the National Association of Home Builders said its index of builders’ sentiment about the market sank to the lowest level since September. The last time the home builders’ confidence gauge was in positive territory was April 2006.

The Commerce Department data showed that housing starts fell on a monthly basis in two out of four U.S. regions. They surged 18.1% in the West and rose 1.5% in the South, but were down 4.1% in the Midwest and 3.3% in the Northeast.

Actual housing starts, calculated without seasonal adjustments, rose to 55,600 in May from an upwardly revised 48,400 in April. Lumber and commodities markets watch those numbers closely to gauge demand.

The Commerce report can be found at http://www.census.gov/const/ newresconst.pdf

-By Alan Zibel and Jeff Bater; Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9263; alan.zibel@ dowjones.com

While visiting the web-site of a reprographics company in Germany, I came across another company that develops and sells software for the A/E/C community. This company was mentioned by the German reprographer:

conject – the Company

conject is a leading provider of management software for the real estate and construction industry. conject develops and manages an On-Demand platform for real estate professionals. It supports all core processes in Infrastructure Lifecycle Management (ILM), from planning and building to operating, selling and marketing real estate. conject has established an international presence and a recognized brand name in the industry.

conject is international. In addition to its world headquarters in Munich, Germany, conject operates in The Hague, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Boston, Johannesburg, Cairo, Abu Dhabi and Dubai as well as in further locations in Germany.

today conject counts over 3,000 corporate customers with a total of more than 60,000 users. Among the conject customers are 60% of the German blue-chip (DAX) companies.

– – – – –

conjectPM – Project collaboration for the construction industry

conjectPM enables Owners, Consultants, Project Managers and Subcontractors to manage their communication online, organize and document the distribution of drawings and documents. 


With conjectPM the design process runs smoothly, transactions are always traceable:

• All drawings and documents can be accessed centrally by all project participants.

• Deliveries and decisions can be processed securely and reliably.

• Documentation is created automatically.

Check out the latest “digital signage” video on Cisco’s web-site:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/video/ps9339/ps6681/digital_signs.html

Facing declining A/E/C industry revenues, in particular, declining revenues from printed plans and specifications, most reprographers have pushed into the “large-format” digital color printing space in an effort to diversify and grow their revenues. Many reprographers made this push well before the A/E/C industry went into recession.

While I do believe that pushing into that space was a good idea for reprographers – if not a necessary thing to do – the large-format digital color “printing” business is being challenged by purely digital signage. And, we can expect this challenge to grow exponentially over the next several years.

Cisco is not the only large, tech-driven company involved in the “digital signage” space.

Using the word “confidence” in the same sentence with the index number of 13 is kind of like an oxymoron. Perhaps they should change the name of this index to the “un-confident” index instead of the “confidence” index?

6-15-11 10:00 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The already-weak index of builder confidence for new single-family homes fell 3 points in June to 13, the lowest reading since Sept. 2010, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a 16 reading. “Builders are being squeezed by the continuing weakness in existing-home prices – against which they must compete — as well as rising material costs,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, a home builder from Reno, Nev. The worst-ever reading was 8 in Jan. 2008, and the gauge hasn’t been above 50 since April 2006. The HMI is a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

AND, NOW I SHOULD MENTION THIS ARTICLE (SEE BELOW) THAT I FOUND AFTER I POSTED THE INFO THAT APPEARS ABOVE.

HOME-BUILDER CONFIDENCE INDEX CAME IN VERY LOW, BUT, OF COURSE, SENTIMENT FROM INVESTORS – ABOUT HOME-BUILDING COMPANIES – GOES UP. WTF?

Sector Trends: Housing Stocks Advancing On Data (RDN, MTH, DHI, HOV, LEN, PHM)

6/16/2011 11:31 AM ET

(RTTNews) – While most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on Thursday, considerable strength has emerged among housing stocks. The strength in the sector reflects a positive reaction to relatively upbeat housing starts data released before the start of trading.

Reflecting the strength among housing stocks, the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index has surged up by 1.6 percent on the day, bouncing off the six-month closing low set in the previous session.

The strength in the sector comes after a report from the Commerce Department showed a modest increase in new residential construction in the month of May, with the increase in housing starts partly offsetting the sharp drop seen in the previous month.

The report showed that housing starts rose by 3.5 percent to an annual rate of 560,000 in May from the revised April estimate of 541,000. Economists had expected housing starts to increase to 547,000 from the 523,000 originally reported for April.

Additionally, the Commerce Department said that building permits rose by 8.7 percent to an annual rate of 612,000 in May from the revised April rate of 563,000. Building permits are seen as an indicator of future housing demand.

Radian Group (RDN) is turning in one of the sector’s best performances, with the mortgage insurer currently up by 4.7 percent.

Homebuilders Meritage Homes (MTH) and D.R. Horton (DHI) have also shown strong upward moves, advancing by 3.7 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.

Hovnanian (HOV), Lennar (LEN) and PulteGroup (PHM) are also posting notable gains, contributing to the strength in the housing sector.

by RTT Staff Writer

For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com

I received an e-mail this morning from one of my very frequent blog-visitors, and he e-mailed me to share a help wanted ad with me; here’s what he said …..

“I know you are not in the business of posting job ads, but it is always interesting to see repro firms help wanted ads!”

And, here’s the ad he sent me ….. (please note that he is not with ABC Imaging and that he has no connection with ABC Imaging, at least that I’m aware of)……….

Megan N. GROUP, Corporate Recruiter at ABC Imaging, Washington D.C. Metro Area

ABC Imaging is an international leader in the Digital Printing and Reprographics industry providing on-site and off-site services to Fortune 1000 companies globally.

Currently, we are seeking a Facilities Manager for Oakland, CA and Atlanta, GA. The ideal candidate will have knowledge of OCE 800 or OCE-TDS860 blue print printer, have 3+ years of Reprographics and construction document management and demonstrate leadership ability to motivate and monitor the progress of all employees. For consideration, please e-mail your resume to careers@abcimaging.com Thanks!!

Denver City Reprographics was down to a minor player in town, just the owners and 3-4 employees. They were one of those fringe players… reorganization, name
changes, equipment repossessions. I’m sure this was a customer list only
deal. ARC doesn’t need production capacity or locations in Denver; they
closed an E Blueprint shop earlier this year.”

Story found on the Tampa Bay Business Journal web-site:

Economist Basu (Chief Economist of Associated Builders & Contractors) sees upturn for end of year

Tampa Bay Business Journal – by Mark Holan

Date: Wednesday, June 8, 2011, 12:22pm EDT

by Mark Holan, Staff Writer, Email: markholan@bizjournals.com

I spoke the other day with Anirban Basu, chairman & CEO of Sage Policy Group Inc., an economic and policy consulting firm in Baltimore. He is also chief economist for Associated Builders and Contractors.

“The economy has begun to sputter,” he said. “It had achieved some stability and predictability, but that is beginning to erode.”

The main culprits are high energy, food and other commodity prices. Consumers are pulling back, production and inventory are declining and jobs aren’t being created fast enough.

Is it a soft patch caused by severe weather in the U.S. and political unrest in the Middle East? Or are we heading toward something worse?

“It is more likely the economy will regain some semblance of momentum,” Basu said.

But recovery in Florida will remain on a slow pace.

“No one expected Florida to come roaring back,” Basu said. “Florida’s economy is based on consumer and investor confidence. Florida is for the bold, people who buy second homes and build resorts. This is not an environment where the bold are particularly bold.”

Basu said he expects the Florida economy to regain momentum by the end of the year, with building and commercial real estate driven by the multifamily rental sector, including senior housing.

He said the wave of baby boomers continues rolling toward the shore, but its pace has been slowed by falling housing prices and the uncertain stock market. Many are being forced to postpone or delay retirement.

“The downtown of financial markets slows migration to Florida,” Basu said. “The best thing that could happen to Florida would be Dow 1600.

The Dow was hovering around 12,100 this morning after several days of declines.