Residential Tuesday 2008.0129

Tue Jan 29 11:45:55 PST 2008

Dear Designers, Builders, and Dwellers,

Residential Tuesday brings you top housing news and analysis weekly
in this free email newsletter from the editors of ArchitectureWeek.

The New York Times looks at how some online real estate brokerages 
are doing in the current climate:

	It was late October, and Redfin, an online real estate
	brokerage firm based in Seattle, had received just three
	months earlier a $12 million investment led by the marquee
	venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. In the
	interim, the mortgage industry melted down, foreclosures
	spiked and housing sales slowed to a crawl. Now, one of
	Redfin's biggest markets, Los Angeles, was battling a series
	of wildfires and Redfin's sales had stopped cold.

	Redfin was not the only victim of bad timing. Venture
	capitalists poured about $50 million into three other real
	estate Web sites last year - Zillow, Terabitz and Trulia -
	only to watch the market enter a historic slide.

	Now, although most of the real estate industry wishes it
	could fast-forward through 2008, these online start-ups are
	surviving nicely. Each company recently reported strong
	sales and increases in Web traffic. Trulia surged to the top
	by the end of 2007, from sixth place in 2006, according to
	Nielsen Online.

	Although these sites are not growing as quickly as they
	might have during a bullish market, they are at least
	growing...

Despite Housing Slide, Real Estate Sites Sell - New York Times, 2008.0128
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/technology/28ecom.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Residential Design and Building News
------------------------------------
Ben Bernanke under Fire Ahead of Fed Rate Meeting - The Times (London), 2008.0129
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article3267624.ece

Stocks Rise on Rate Cut Hopes - Associate Press, 2008.0128
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gHs5OM3gFG_DytQQZFbWfgPT08MAD8UF1OUG0

Fed Expected to Cut Rates Again - Financial Times, 2008.0128
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3f8e1ca6-cde1-11dc-9e4e-000077b07658.html

Housing Slowdown Drives Changes in Market for Insurance - Sacramento Business Journal, 2008.0128
http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2008/01/28/focus2.html

UK Interest Rates Must Be Cut to Avert Slowdown - BoE's Blanchflower - Forbes, 2008.0128
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/01/28/afx4579574.html

Pointing in the Right Direction - Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2008.0128
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/ae/349055_architecture29.html

Lack of Affordable Housing Affects Health Care, Education - Denver Business Journal, 2008.0128
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/01/28/focus4.html

US New Home Sales Hit 12-Year Low - Financial Times, 2008.0128
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/83ba9d0e-cdba-11dc-9e4e-000077b07658.html

Dollar Slumps as US Housing Deteriorates - Telegraph, 2008.0128
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/01/28/bcnhouse128.xml

Sales of New Homes Fell by 26% in 2007 - New York Times, 2008.0128
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/business/28cnd-econ.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Builders Oppose Affordable Housing - Modesto Bee, 2008.0128
http://www.modbee.com/opinion/letters/story/193544.html

Builders Say Excessive Regulations Have Priced Some Families Out - Springfield Business Journal, 2008.0128
http://www.sbj.net/article.asp?aID=93022003.5606653.1041599.8586956.9318288.248&aID2=80114

Downsizing Boulder County's Dream Homes - Daily Camera, 2008.0127
http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/jan/27/down-sizing-countys-dream-homes/

We Built Our New-Age House... - Sunday Mirror, 2008.0127
http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/homesandholidays/homes/2008/01/27/we-built-our-new-age-house-98487-20297872/

Built for the Earth and the Pocketbook - New York Times, 2008.0127
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/realestate/27newreal.html?ref=business

Design Translations - The News & Observer, 2008.0126
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/904227.html

Restricting Big Houses on Small Lots Rankles Next in Line for Permits - Hamptons Online, 2008.0125
http://www.hamptons.com/detail.ihtml?id=2759&apid=5782&sid=27&cid=54&hm=1&iv=1&townflag=

Making Dark Rooms Glow - New York Times, 2008.0124
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/garden/24lightintro.html?em&ex=1201410000&en=52743c0bde08786a&ei=5087%0A

Starting Over, and Over, and Over - New York Times, 2008.0124
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/garden/24haverland.html?_r=1&ref=garden&oref=slogin

City Council Approves 344-Unit Complex Near Metro - Washington Post, 2008.0124
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/23/AR2008012301301.html

Engineer Told to Revise Pump Specifications - New Orleans Times-Picayune, 2008.0123
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1201069813185270.xml&coll=1

U.S. Alters Its Approach to Disasters - New York Times, 2008.0123
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/us/nationalspecial/23fema.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

US Housing Slump Dents Wolseley Profits by 40% - Guardian Unlimited, 2008.0122
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/22/useconomy.marketturmoil

We'd Like 250,000 of These, Please - Guardian Unlimited, 2008.0121
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/architecture/story/0,,2244258,00.html

People and Places
    by Nancy Novitski
    http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2008/0123/news_2-1.html

	BR Design in New York, New York - Kirksey in Houston,
	Texas - Peter Fillat Architects in San Antonio, Texas
	- OMA in Hamburg, Germany - Make Architects in
	Sheffield, England, United Kingdom - John Hare in
	Ridge, England, United Kingdom - Moore Ruble Yudell
	Architects & Planners in Santa Monica, California...
        ... short stories continue online:
        http://www.ArchWeek.com/2008/0123/news_2-1.html

Press Release - Eleek Wins Four "Architect's Choice for Excellence" Awards
     http://www.archweek.com/ad.cgi?080129_eleek.html

                         - * -
 "Great detailed pictures and drawings."
                                     - TO, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

             Subscribe today - Save trees now! **
       https://archweek.securesites.com/subscribe.html
                         - * -

Product News - Interior Design CAD Software from OFCDesk
	OFCDesk Interior Design CAD (IDC) focuses exclusively on
	commercial interior design. Based on the AutoCAD(R)
	platform, it features an easy interface with
	industry-specific tools and terminology, and includes a
	built-in content creator and customizable library. The
	IDC software is being introduced in the United States
	during the first quarter of 2008. Product demonstrations
	will take place in Indianapolis on January 31, in
	Chicago on February 19, and in Cincinnati on March 20.
	Future product demonstrations and webcasts will be
	scheduled for the East and West Coast regions in later
	months. Professionals in the interior design and
	architecture industry are invited to attend free of charge.
	http://www.archweek.com/ad.cgi?080129_products_update.html

ArchitectureWeek Book Center - 87 architecture-related categories!
	Residential Design and Building Books
	   http://www.archweek.com/books/browse.php?category=24
	Multifamily Housing Design and Construction Books
	   http://www.archweek.com/books/browse.php?category=25

Design and Building Download Center - Graphisoft BIM Experience
	The BIM Experience Kit offers architects a no-cost way to
	learn BIM at their own pace with software, voice-led
	interactive learning,  testing, and rewards. This
	interactive and fun learning toolkit features a 30-day trial
	of ArchiCAD and an interactive tutorial featuring the
	Massaro House design. Download a trial package...
     http://www.archweek.com/ads.cgi?080129_downloads.html

ArchitectureWeek Jobs Board - free postings!
     http://jobs.ArchitectureWeek.com/
ArchitectureWeek Blog Center - independent postings listed live
     http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/blogs/

This Week's Quiz -	
	What is a "jack" arch closest to:  a pointed arch, a
	semicircular arch, or a flat arch?
     http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2008/0123/quiz.html

Architecture Answer - for last issue's quiz...
	The archeological discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum
	in the 18th century fueled interest in what type of
	architectural style?
     http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2008/0123/answer.html

Classic Home 058 - Bungalow by E. J. Maier, T. E. King & G. H. Erard, Architects
     http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2008/0123/classic_home.html

Current Events and Exhibits
     http://calendar.ArchitectureWeek.com/events/

New Design Competitions
     http://calendar.ArchitectureWeek.com/competitions/

Upcoming Conferences and Expos
     http://calendar.ArchitectureWeek.com/conferences/

Residential Design and Building Forum
     http://arch.designcommunity.com/forum-7.html
Modern Living Forum
     http://www.designcommunity.com/forums/forum-14.html
Architecture Discussion Forum
     http://www.designcommunity.com/forums/forum-6.html
Architecture Students Forum
     http://www.designcommunity.com/forums/forum-13.html
ArchWeek Classified Ads - Buy/Sell & Services
     http://www.designcommunity.com/forums/adverts.php

Contents, RSS, and Surface of the Week - 
     Doric pilaster rendered in stucco (CP-001)
     http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2008/0123/contents.html

Five years ago in ArchitectureWeek:
	AIA Honor Awards 2003, by ArchitectureWeek
	http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2003/0129/index.html

For any subscription-related questions, just drop us a line at
"subscriptions at architectureweek.com".

Joining the list to get this weekly message is always free.  And 
please write to us directly anytime, at "editor at architectureweek.com".

Best wishes,

Kevin Matthews
Editor in Chief
ArchitectureWeek

Reach thousands with this weekly residential design and building newsletter:
       http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/media_kit.html
   Update your entry in the Archiplanet wiki with more than 20,000 firms:
       http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Help:Getting_Started
   Suggest a web site to be linked from our free Web Directory:
       http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/links/
   Subscribe and contribute to help support ArchitectureWeek on the Web:
       https://archweek.securesites.com/cgi-bin/support_archweek.cgi

Free Newsletters by ArchitectureWeek - subscribe today!
      ArchWeek Notes - the latest of ArchitectureWeek, every week
               http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/subscribe.html
      Green Wednesday - sustainable design and building news
               http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/subscribe.html
      Residential Tuesday - housing news and analysis
               http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/subscribe.html

   To UNSUBSCRIBE, and also for self-service change of email address:   
       http://www.architectureweek.com/mailman/listinfo/tuesday

	** ArchitectureWeek is a green publication.  By publishing 
	this professional design and building magazine online only, 
	we save about 47 tons of paper monthly, equivalent to about 
	50 large trees every week, or some 2500 trees saved per year, 
	compared to reaching a similar readership on paper - not 
	counting these newsletters!  Our offices are powered by 100% 
	wind energy through our local electric utilities.

    Reduce your carbon footprint:  Read ArchitectureWeek online, 
    and drop that paper-based monthly subscription!

+ - - Copyright (c) 2008 Artifice, Inc. - All Rights Reserved. - - +
             Share Residential Tuesday with a friend!