Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- Market experts expecting the home construction lull to end some time soon are going to have to wait longer than hoped. The chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders said new home construction in the U.S. may take until 2011 to return to last year's level. According to the NAHB, monthly construction starts would need to jump by 21 percent to reach David Seiders' benchmark for full recovery — 1.85 million. There were 1.53 million construction stats in April, the Commerce Department reported. At the height of the five-year housing boom in January 2006, construction began...

Cooper Trading Inc., a construction materials supplier in Irwin, Pa., since its founding in 1992, is expanding into the South Side of Pittsburgh. "We are getting ready to open (our new location) there," said Pete Cooper, the company's president and founder. "Probably the middle of next month, (we will be) up in running." The company, which currently has a 5,000-square-foot corporate office and 14,000-square-foot warehouse in North Huntingdon, will set up shop at 1001 Muriel St., on the south side of the 10th Street bridge.