2007 Multifamily Trends Conference

The 2007 Multifamily Trends Conference was held in San Francisco yesterday. Hessam Nadji, Managing Director of Research for Marcus and Millichap, released a positive forecast for the multifamily industry. In summary, the U.S. economy has remained resilient, construction costs are easing back a bit, demographics, immigration, home affordability, and job growth continue to be the key drivers of multifamily demand. Overall, it appears the economy is robust enough to absorb an event of this type (in comparison to a shock such as the events of 9/11). Barrier is optimistic that our current growth rate will not only continue, but accelerate as the market eases past this bump. Fire-rated sheathing, town homes, multi-family construction, housing market, small cap, otcbb, ibtgf, barrier, blazeguard, mycoguard, fire-rated paint, intumescent paint, mold, mildew, fire-retardant plywood, frt, sips, structurally insulative panels, fire-rated wall assemblies, commercial modular, modular home construction, green building products, LEED,

Busy Summer Ahead...

In addition to keeping ahead of growing sales volumes, Barrier will busy with R&D efforts this summer along many product/market fronts. We anticipate completion of our re-span rating from our strength testing, development of our 1-hour rated wall assembly for zero lot applications, and full development of a 2-hour wall assembly including shear/seismic capabilities. This will be done in addition to our continuing work on development of expanding the applications of our commercial modular roofing system with our partner, Mule-Hide. All this will be timely as we complete our field applied product launches of Mycoguard - our mold and mildew resistant coating and Blazeguard Fire Retardant Paint - for Class A 10 minute flame spread applications. Good thing the days of summer are longer!Fire-rated sheathing, town homes, multi-family construction, housing market, small cap, otcbb, ibtgf, barrier, blazeguard, mycoguard, fire-rated paint, intumescent paint, mold, mildew, fire-retardant plywood, frt, sips, structurally insulative panels, fire-rated wall assemblies, commercial modular, modular home construction, green building products, LEED,

Mixed Reports on the Housing Industry Continues

The government issued its report on April housing this week. Overall there was a 2.5% increase in construction starts. Single family homes rose 1.6%, while multi-family increased 6.3%. By region, the Northeast lead the way with a 31.3% rise and the West was second at 7.8%. This news was followed up with the decline in housing permits issued in April for new construction. This, some analysts are saying, indicates the housing market may remain weak for several more months. Barrier continues to focus on diversification into new regions of the US. We can continue our growth pattern, even through the decline in the housing market, by picking up market share in areas we haven’t penetrated yet. Building has slowed down, but it hasn’t stopped. Fire-rated sheathing, town homes, multi-family construction, housing market, small cap, otcbb, ibtgf, barrier, blazeguard, mycoguard, fire-rated paint, intumescent paint, mold, mildew, fire-retardant plywood, frt, sips, structurally insulative panels, fire-rated wall assemblies, commercial modular, modular home construction, green building products, LEED,

It's Official...

This week we received our official notice from Underwriters Laboratory that our Blazeguard Fire Retardant Paint has been classified for use in applications that require a 10 minute Class A Flame Spread. Field inspection on the manufacturing process will now begin on a regular basis. Now we can start to sell this product into the field applied fire-retardant market, Commercial Modular Roof Deck sector, and potentially the truss market.
Fire-rated sheathing, town homes, multi-family construction, housing market, small cap, otcbb, ibtgf, barrier, blazeguard, mycoguard, fire-rated paint, intumescent paint, mold, mildew, fire-retardant plywood, frt, sips, structurally insulative panels, fire-rated wall assemblies, commercial modular, modular home construction, green building products, LEED,

Multifamily Apartment Market Stays Strong

In a recent article from Multi-Housing News, the apartment market remains strong in spite of the "shadow market" - rental of properties originally built for sale, but being rented due to the weak residential sales market. We all know the demographics say people will continue to need places to live. Immigration into our country remains high and echo boomers are starting to enter the housing market place. Multi-family housing caters to those in the early and late stages of life. This is great for Barrier as multi-family housing is a market for our Blazeguard Fire-Rated Wood Panels.

Fire-rated sheathing, town homes, multi-family construction, housing market, small cap, otcbb, ibtgf, barrier, blazeguard, mycoguard, fire-rated paint, intumescent paint, mold, mildew, fire-retardant plywood, frt, sips, structurally insulative panels, fire-rated wall assemblies, commercial modular, modular home construction, green building products, LEED,