The Builder's Daily

3 days ago | thebuildersdaily.com | John McManus |John Mcmanus

This week, as we announced that our Focus On Excellence registration site went live, we made a claim. This is not just a conference."What makes Focus On Excellence different? Our program "reveals" over the next couple of weeks will clarify this, and today, we start at the heart and soul of how and why it will be unlike any homebuilding leaders' gathering on the calendar. It’s not the speakers. It’s not the venue. It’s not even the content, though that will be excellent, high-level, and provocative.

4 days ago | thebuildersdaily.com | Richard Lawson

As hours ticked away toward Tuesday's expiration of the current legislative session, Texas lawmakers passed a bill somewhat trimmed in its ambitions to reduce lot-size minimums to 3,000 square feet in cities with a population of at least 150,000 and counties with a population of at least 300,000. The measure, Senate Bill 15, would allow the development and ground-up construction of smaller homes on smaller lots.

5 days ago | thebuildersdaily.com | John McManus |John Mcmanus

Too many homebuilding leaders still cling to the belief that the future of homebuilding is somewhere out there, around the next corner or maybe the next. That it will arrive after one more cycle. That it's something you can pilot next year or table until interest rates come down. But here's a thought, call it radical or not: The future of homebuilding is no longer in the future. It's now, living in real life.

1 week ago | thebuildersdaily.com | John McManus |John Mcmanus

Spring is supposed to be homebuilding’s moment. But 2025’s selling season has been jammed in neutral. Consumer sticker shock, stubborn mortgage rates, and insurance and property tax drag have forced builders into a full-blown incentive war. Everything's on the table for mortgage buydowns, free upgrades, design credits, and rate locks. The result? Sales that trickle instead of surge. And margins that shrink by the day. "Strike price" has become the new holy grail — the price at which consumers say yes.

1 week ago | thebuildersdaily.com | John McManus |John Mcmanus

In a spring 2025 season marked by softening traffic, heightened affordability headwinds, and corporate belt-tightening, homebuilders are looking for new ways to de-risk their land books without losing momentum on development. Many have responded by delaying lot takedowns, walking away from land positions, or slashing budgets to protect margins. But what if the problem isn’t land ownership but timing?