Texas Builder, Mar/Apr 2016

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So I encourage each of you to explore exactly
what TAB has to offer. Get out there and get
involved and I can guarantee that you will
experience firsthand the value your fellow
TABmembers have seen through involvement
in the Texas Association of Builders.
We are off to a good start as four of our
local associations were honored by the
NAHB at IBS. Texas had the most winners
of any state (see the Lonestar Newsmaker
section for more details). West Texas HBA,
Tyler Area BA, BA of Corpus Christi and
HBA of San Angelo, thanks for being great
role models for us to follow.
REMEMBER, YOUR VOTE MATTERS
By the time you read this my attention will
be on the 2016 March primary elections.
These primary races are vital to the
future of our industry as seats in the U.S.
Congress and the Texas Legislature will be
decided. It’s our responsibility to stay up-
to-date on the candidates and the best way
to do so is through the TAB Advocacy &
Action Center.
Make sure you are signed up to receive
TAB’s emails at
or if you’re social media savvy check out
TAB’s Facebook page under ‘Take Action’
for current updates and voting reminders.
As we talk about the elections and
candidates it’s important to remember
HOMEPAC. Your contributions to
HOMEPAC are more important than
ever before. TAB’s outstanding advocacy
team will be at the Capitol sharing
our commitment to providing quality,
affordable housing to future generations
of Texans. HOMEPAC is an essential
component of TAB’s advocacy program
and voluntary contributions can help
preserve a positive political climate for the
residential construction and development
industry in Texas.
We ask for your contribution at any level
from Lone Star to Capitol Club. Your
participation will allow us to be involved
more than ever in electing pro-housing
candidates to office.
TAB’s HOMEPAC is only possible with the
help and support of our members. The next
opportunity to participate in a fundraising
event will be at the Winter Board Meetings
in San Antonio on March 30. TAB will be
hosting another fun night out at TopGolf. Last
year’s TopGolf event inAustinwas such a huge
hit we decided to do it again in San Antonio.
HOUSING OUTLOOK FOR TEXAS IN 2016
The Texas housing market has been one of
the hottest in the nation for the past few
years. With more than 157,000 housing
starts in 2015, all indications are that 2016
will be just as strong or stronger due to job
growth and consumer confidence.
A firming economy, solid job growth, rising
consumer confidence, higher household
formations and pent-up demand are helping
to bring buyers back into the marketplace,
and these factors will bode well for housing
this year, according to economists speaking
at the NAHB/IBS in January.
As we heard at the national meetings,
many expect to see nationwide home
prices increase about 4-5 percent this
year and could reach the 2006 peak by
mid-2017. There are concerns among
builders regarding the cost and availability
of developed lots and labor, federal
environmental regulations and policies
that are making it more expensive and
difficult to build homes, and building
materials prices.
The NAHB expects single-family starts to
reach 840,000 units nationwide this year.
Texas accounts for 20 percent of those
starts as the Lone Star State is projected to
have more than 165,000 starts.
On the multifamily side, NAHB is anti-
cipating 417,000 starts in 2016, up 5
percent from a total of about 397,000
units last year. Meanwhile, residential
remodeling activity is expected to register
a 1.1 percent gain this year over 2015.
Overall, Texas is expected to continue its
strong growth in the housing industry.
I would like to encourage you again to
visit the TAB website )
and to get involved with your local, state
and national associations. Remember
that the Texas Association of Builders
exists because of members like you and
for members like you. Let’s make this
year bigger and better for current and
future builders.
By Tim Jackson
We’re on a roll and our momentum
is just getting started as we have
returned from the 2016 International
Builders’ Show®. It was a jam packed week as we
attended National Association of Home Builders
Committee meetings and walked the 1,500-plus
vendor Show floor.
I left the event with membership, advocacy and
our future on the forefront.
COMMITMENT TO MEMBERSHIP CONTINUES
Thanks to the hard work put forth by our
Immediate Past President Steve Sorrells and
current Membership Committee Chair Michael
Biggerstaff our numbers are on the upswing.
Now is our opportunity to continue this growth.
The goal this year is to increase our total
membership by 1,500 members through the
RPM Membership Challenge program and the
“Two For TAB” campaign.
In order to achieve this goal, we must be
committed to the number one driving force of
any successful organization, selling a valuable
product that your target audience is better off
having and at a fair price.
As an association, we must strive to meet the needs
of our members, current and new. Being driven
by numbers, our local associations must focus
on engaging and educating our industry so they
continue to see the value in membership. What’s
the best way to measure the value of a membership?
By creating active participation in meetings, events
and activities which TAB helps to promote.
President’s Commentary