New home sales were down 4.6 percent in February from January but up 12.3 percent from a year ago. The drop in February was from an elevated January that was the highest since mid-2008. The inventory of unsold new homes remains very low by historic standards at 4.4 month’s supply.

Regionally, the Midwest was the only region with an increase, up 14 percent to an annual rate of 58,000. The Northeast was down 13 percent in a month with significant snow fall. The South was down 10 percent from January and down 6 percent from a year ago. The region did have more rainfall than usual during February and the 2013 average so far remains above the first three quarter averages in 2012. The West fell 2 percent but remains at levels last seen since early 2008.

Who wouldn't want a hurricane-proofed home? Especially when your abode is within the hurricane prone vicinity. Nobody wants to see their hard earned shelter shatter into logs or like morsels everytime a feisty disaster strikes. That is why, In 2003, Geraldine and Tony Luppino built a home on a thumb of land that juts into St. Helena Sound. Fearing hurricanes, they made sure their new house was solid, complete with foot-thick concrete walls, hurricane straps for the roof and impact-resistant windows. In all, they paid a contractor $583,435.

Housing construction activity has increased significantly over the last year across the three primary sectors of home building: single-family, multifamily and remodeling. And that growth in turn means good news for those businesses that support residential construction, including building suppliers and other associated enterprises. While the NAHB forecast for this year calls for additional growth, there are likely to be monthly ups and downs along the way.

For example, Census construction spending data reported flat headline growth in January due to declines in the volatile remodeling spending category. Spending on new single-family homes continued to expand, rising 3.6 percent over December’s pace, while multifamily construction spending was up 1.7 percent. However, these gains were offset by a 4 percent drop in the improvement category.

Nonetheless, total residential construction spending remains near post-2009 highs and has experienced growth in 15 of the last 17 months.

Nationwide housing production edged up 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 917,000 units in February, according to newly released figures from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau. This slight upward movement represented gains in both the single-family and multifamily sectors, with single-family housing starts reaching their fastest pace since June of 2008.

“Demand for new homes and apartments is definitely rising as the spring buying season approaches and more young people move out on their own,” said Rick Judson, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Charlotte, N.C. “Builders are responding to this improved demand by putting more crews back to work and pulling more permits for future construction, though this positive activity is being constrained by continuing issues with appraisals and credit availability for both builders and buyers, and also by newly arising challenges such as lot shortages and increased costs for labor and materials.”

In a major step forward to spur job and economic growth and keep the housing recovery on track, Reps. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) and Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) recently introduced bipartisan legislation that would help provide home builders access to credit for viable home building projects.

“We commend Reps. Miller and McCarthy for acting to remove a major impediment to the housing recovery by promoting legislation that will enable home builders to obtain construction loans in order to put construction crews back to work and to meet rising demand across much of the nation for new homes,” says Rick Judson, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Charlotte, N.C.

H.R. 1255, the Home Construction Lending Regulatory Improvement Act of 2013, represents a substantial step forward in the effort to restore the flow of credit to the housing industry and is identical to legislation championed by Miller in the last Congress.

Little household annoyances, like a window that sticks, can ruin your sense of peace and quiet. From California handyman Jim Peterson come these seven easy fixes for banishing some minor but common problems around the house:

Stained tub - Combine equal amounts of cream of tartar and baking soda with enough lemon juice to make a paste. Rub the mixture into the stain with your fingers or a soft cloth. Let sit for a half hour, then rinse well with water.

Stuck sliding windows – A little silicone spray lubricant (sold at hardware stores) will grease the skids. Spray it onto a rag, then wipe along the tracks, whether they’re metal, wood, or plastic.

It takes more than just mowing the lawn to get a great looking yard. In addition to making sure you have healthy, well-cut grass, there are some finishing touches you should add so that your yard goes from so-so to something you can be proud of.

Trimming and Edging the Lawn
The lawn mower can't reach every place that grass grows. So after mowing, you're often left with long grass sticking up around trees and flower beds, as well as along sidewalks, patios and driveways. When you trim, you leave your lawn neat and tidy.

Trimming is cutting the edges of your lawn horizontally. It levels unmowed grass so it's even with the rest of the lawn. String trimmers are effective tools for this job. A battery powered trimmer, such as the 36 volt Lithium High Performance String Trimmer with Power Command® controls from Black & Decker, is a lightweight option for many homeowners. Its battery holds a charge 5 times longer while idle compared to HPB18 NiCad battery packs, and it requires no gas to operate.

To trim properly, keep a few things in mind:

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently released several model programs designed to help communities get Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds more expeditiously to residents struggling to rebuild, repair or restore their homes.

These program designs can be adapted to a locality's unique needs and readily implemented so each community does not have to develop entire new programs on their own.

“Providing these ready-made programs to communities will help them get resources where they are needed more effectively and efficiently,” says HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, who also serves as Chair of the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force. “We are committed to working with our federal, state, local and tribal partners to get assistance to families who are struggling to rebuild as quickly as possible.”

Spring is the time of year for renewal. So, it's no surprise that springtime finds most people planning to rejuvenate their spaces. Four out of five Americans have a room in the home in need or redecorating, according to a 2013 study by Homegoods. Unfortunately, all too often the decorating process is a source of stress and anxiety for homeowners. How will you ever afford new furniture in your living room? How can you be on-trend without dating your home?

Follow these three tips to give your home a stress-free, springtime makeover:

Reclaiming your home's foundation

Chances are your floors took a beating during the winter. Spring is the ideal time to install new flooring and revamp one of your home's most important components. As the foundation of your home, your flooring needs to complement your personal taste, while living up to your lifestyle in terms of traffic, household members and pets, exposure to moisture and maintenance required. With the countless color and design options, the wide range of flooring materials and your own budgetary considerations, you may find selecting flooring to be particularly stressful.