home building

After the long downturn, the coming year will be an opportunity for many industries to rejuvenate themselves. Independent researcher IBISWorld sorted through data on 711 U.S.-based industries to come up with these predictions of the 10 best.

Technically, the homebuilder sentiment index inched one point higher to 16 in November. But the gain was offset by a revised one-point dip in October's reading, and the numbers remain well below those seen during a healthy housing market.

The U.S. construction industry went from bad to worse in July, and then retroactively worse still. The Commerce Department announced Wednesday that spending in the sector fell a worse-than-expected 1% in July, and revised June's estimate downward from a 0.1% increase to an 0.8% decline.

July housing starts inched up to 546,000, a lower-than-expected rate that's a gain on June only because the previous month's total was revised downwards. Housing starts are now 7% lower in the past year, despite the home buyer tax-credit program.

The Great Recession had a disproportionately high impact on male unemployment. But now, the tentative recovery is driving job gains in areas like construction and financial services, helping male hiring regain lost ground -- some good news for Father's Day.

You just had to know there would be a downside to any recovery in the housing market -- even the beginnings of one. And, sure enough, there is: the price of lumber is going through the roof, up some 65% in just the past year. "Prices are going up and they will continue to go up, and it's going to...

This Sunday on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, 2008 American Idol winner and multi-platinum seller David Cook pitches in to help a family build a new house for their sick daughter. Cook uses Skype to call in to WalletPop's Jason Cochran and give the behind-the-scenes story of his stint as a...

America's home builders remain in a funk over the real estate market, with a key industry confidence indicator dropping to its lowest level in six months on Tuesday. But home buyers may finally be perking up a bit. Even in southern California, ground zero in the housing bust, there are signs of...

This morning Bloomberg.com released a report regarding the state of the construction industry. That report provides a fairly gray view of the state of our nation's home builders. Home construction is in the process of posting a third straight year of declines and has surpassed even the direst of...