 Besides keeping track of how many of us live in the U.S. (281,421,906 as of April 1, 2000), the U.S. Census Bureau also tracks, on a monthly basis, a wealth of construction and housing statistics.
Specifically, the Bureau measures the number of housing units authorized by permits, started, sold or completed, and the dollar value of all construction put in place that month. It also tracks residential construction in 30 metropolitan areas across the country each quarter and the sales of new single-family homes in those areas each year; and keeps tabs on the dollar value of residential improvement and repair work each quarter.
In addition, the Bureau’s Census of Construction Industries, taken every five years, gives a comprehensive overview of the construction industry. For more information and links to other industry-related resources, log on to: http://www.census.gov/const/www/index.html.
(Photo credit: Woodsy, Stock Exchange. Thanks!)
 The Inman Innovator Awards were announced just minutes ago, and BHI Insights was there. Here is a list of the winners. Be sure to check out the winner's web sites to get up-to-date on the latest products and services in the Real Estate Technology Industry:
Most Innovative Brokerage: Coldwell Banker
Most Innovative Web Service: vFlyer
 Most Innovative Technology: Altos Research
Most Innovative Blog: Mortgage Fraud Blog
Most Innovative Media Site: Active Rain
Innovator of the Year: The Craigslist Community and Craig Newmark
 Sellsius Real Estate took the long way to Inman Connect 2007. They toured the country in an RV, visiting 30 cities along the way. In each city, they hooked up with local real estate bloggers and documented their travels, culminating on stage at the last day of the conference. Check out their blog and video below for the whole crazy story.
 This afternoon, the conference broke out into smaller, intensive workshops on various topics including lead management, video, blogging, and mapping. BHI Insights attended the blogging and video sessions.
Video: So, why is video gaining so much traction, and becoming so common on the Internet? And why should we care about video when marketing real estate? Video has become ubiquitous on the Web for a number of reasons: The proliferation of broadband access, more efficient compression and streaming technologies, and a new breed of embeddable video players. What can video do for real estate marketing? Well-made video content creates an emotional response, regardless of the subject matter. The video can be about a builder, a community, or a specific floor plan. The goal is to create an emotional response from the consumer. Be on the lookout for some innovative video products from BHI in the near future.
 The Keynote Address just finished up. The speaker was Hugh MacLeod, a person that defies categorization in my opinion. Hugh is a cartoonist (those are his on the right), ad industry veteran, viral marketing specialist, blogger, motivator (the list goes on). He is most famous for his blog, gapingvoid.com and also for putting a small South African wine maker, Stormhoek on the map through an amazing viral marketing campaign that utilized blogging and the power of the Internet. Hugh MacLeod made some excellent points in his hilarious 25 mintue address. The key takeaway was the importance of Social Objects on the Web. Social Objects are anything that encourage social interactions and sharing. This is at the heart of the Web 2.0 movement. Humans love to share themselves and their experiences. The most successful Web 2.0 products empower users to interact and share. The video tells the story of Hugh's most famous cartoon: The Blue Monster. Be sure to watch it.
 Brad Inman (far left) kicked off the Conference by relating the key themes to be explored over the next 3 days. The first is the interplay between the current state of the real estate market and the current explosion of new technology providers in the space. The market is slow with few buyers but, the industry is finally ready to totally embrace the wide array of technologies becoming available. At the same time, we are experiencing a "Web 2.0" explosion of Internet innovation. These new innovations center around Community, User-Generated Content, and Social Media. We are also in the age of 24/7 connectivity with Blogs, video and social networking keeping us connected to the Internet and each other around the clock, instantly.
The first round table discussion was a very lively one with Brad Inman (left) Dale Stinton, CEO of The National Association of Realtors (center) and Rich Barton, CEO of Zillow. Dale Stinton had some very interesting insights and news about the industry:
First, he's predicting the Fed will drop interest rates in the coming months to counteract the effects of the slow market and the sub-prime financing "debacle". He also announced that NAR is investing heavily in the technology business. They plan to create and incubate new technologies to directly help their constituency. Third, the NAR will begin marketing directly to consumers. They want to be a trusted adviser on a national level, and are striving to be the first resource consumers use when they research and search for homes. Over $100 Million will be put towards this effort. Realtor.com will also get a major overhaul that will feature new and innovative features.
Everyone on the panel agreed that Mobile Content will be the next huge thing to hit the industry. The iPhone is expected to be a real game changer. Once the kinks are worked out of the first 2 generations of the iPhone, expect consumer real estate to radically change. Consumers will be able to search and connect with homes and Realtors in real time, on the fly, from anywhere.
 The team at BHI Insights will be blogging live from the Inman Real Estate Connect Conference in San Francisco August 1 - August 3. This is a great conference that brings together the entire Real Estate Technology industry for 3 days of featured speakers, seminars, networking and a large trade show. Can't make it to San Francisco? BHI Insights will be there to bring you the all the highlights from this years' event. Featured Speakers this year include Pete Flint, Founder & CEO Trulia, Craig Newmark, Founder of craigslist, and Doug Lebda, President, COO of IAC, to name just a few. Expect numerous posts this week live from the Conference including summaries of workshops, commentary on the latest trends, and photos from the trade show floor.
No suprises here, but The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported today that home construction in June '07 continued to trail activity from '06, as building permits, housing starts and completions were down an average of 24 percent. In the single-family sector, building permit authorizations in June dropped to a rate of 1.02 million, down 4.1 percent month to month For buildings with five units or more, authorizations were at a rate of 335,000 last month.
According to the latest ComScore/MediaMetrix report, nearly 75 percent of U.S.
Internet users watched an average of 158 minutes of online video per user
during May 2007. Notable findings from May 2007 include:
-- Online viewers watched an average of 158 minutes of streaming video per streamer.
-- The average video stream duration was 2.5 minutes.
-- Nearly three out of four (74.3 percent) U.S. Internet users streamed video online.
-- More than one out of three (35 percent) U.S. Internet users streamed video on YouTube.com.
-- The average online video viewer consumed 63 video streams, or more than two per day.
With online video consuption becoming the norm, I would expect to see rapid proliferation of video advertising across verticals, particularly in Real Estate.
I found this article a fascinating look at the growing influence of women online.
We know the importance that women have in the home-buying process (and in any big-ticket purchase for that matter), but I had no idea this growth was so pronounced.
Key points:
Women have dibs on home computer use:
Two-thirds of women (66.3%) say they are first in line to use the home’s computer.
For products they might purchase, 54.5% of online women say the internet is their primary source of information.
Among women 65+, three of 10 (31.8%) say the internet is their primary product-information resource.
http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/women-internet-is-indispensable-894/?camp=newsletter&src=mc&type=textlink
Enjoy.
Dan
Move Inc. announced a broad reaching plan to integrate user-generated content and social networking functionality across its sites. Move Inc.'s new President, Lorna Borenstein, will focus on drawing a larger base of consumers to Move Inc. site. They have traditionally concentrated on consumers that are actively buying, selling or renting real estate. They will now also focus on consumers that are passively seeking, researching, or otherwise not considering a purchase. Some interesting new features were announced:
A video destination featured home and garden video content
A social networking portal where users can discuss neighborhood issues, asking and answering questions
Neighborhood Search with detailed demographic information, heat maps, photos and video
Looks like Move is really branching out, in a direct response to functionality already live on Trulia and Zillow. They see those newer sites as a threat, and rightfully so.
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Besides keeping track of how many of us live in the U.S. (281,421,906 as of April 1, 2000), the U.S. Census Bureau also tracks, on a monthly basis, a wealth of construction and housing statistics. 
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