That water and/or sewer main running near the property you want to buy is often a blessing, but trouble could lurk there, too, says Tom Stephani, a builder in Crystal Lake, Ill.

With 23,000 homes on 11,000 acres, Centennial in northeast Los Angeles County will be far bigger than any community where most builders will ever buy lots, let alone plan.

Eighteen months ago, former stock trader turned real estate broker Brian Hickey opened an Internet-based service from which builders can get targeted listings of old homes that sellers are willing to unload as tear-downs in affluent, infill neighborhoo..

So breathtaking in scope is a draft growth plan for the western half of Riverside County, Calif., that some environmental activists previously opposed to any growth are working with builders and local officials to hammer out a deal.

A new Department of Housing and Urban Development education initiative is aimed at helping builders, developers, architects and designers learn how to design and build multifamily homes in compliance with the Fair Housing Act.

Single Family Residential Finished Lot Price Index (1995 = 100)

Imputed Lot Value 2001

Single-family home building in Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties, which form the San Francisco metropolitan statistical area (MSA), is slowing to a trickle.

The greater Raleigh-Durham and Chapel Hill, N.C., area has several attributes that builders like to see.