Welcome to the Athens Area Home Builders Association
The Athens Area Home Builders Association is a non-profit professional trade association made up of member companies, representing residential and light commercial builders, subcontractors, suppliers, and many other service providers to the building industry throughout Athens-Clarke, Elbert, Franklin, Hart, Madison, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Stephens, and Walton Counties. Together we are the foundation for the local home-building industry - building pride in our community through interaction, commitment, professionalism, education, community service, and environmental responsibility.
NAHB Now
- South Dakota HBA Members Rally Behind State SkillsUSA CompetitionsMembers of the South Dakota Home Builders Association played a key role in this year’s state SkillsUSA building competitions, supporting the two-day April event as judges and prize donors.
- Five Steps to a More Sustainable Home RemodelLast month, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved the newly revised 2025 National Green Building Standard® (NGBS), which includes significant changes to promote green renovations. To celebrate National Home Remodeling Month, here are five steps remodelers can take to make their projects more sustainable and put them on a path toward NGBS certification.
- EPA Finalizes Refrigerant Rule Update to Allow Older HVAC Unit InstallationThe EPA today published a final rule that will allow the continued installation in new homes of existing HVAC units manufactured or imported prior to Jan. 1, 2025, that use R-410A refrigerant until existing supplies are depleted.
- NAHB Publication Offers Remodelers Sneak Peek into Industry FinancialsBuilderBooks, the publishing arm of NAHB, released a new edition of its Remodelers’ Cost of Doing Business Study, 2026 Edition, a national study of remodelers’ business practices and financial performance.
- Which Home Owners Are Fueling Today’s Remodeling Market?With elevated mortgage rates and limited for-sale inventory making it harder to move, many home owners are instead choosing to invest in the homes they already own. In 2024, an estimated $670 billion was spent on remodeling projects.
Upcoming Meetings & Events
New Members
Eye On Housing
- Multifamily Missing Middle Construction: First Quarter 2026Multifamily missing middle construction declined at the start of 2026. The missing middle construction sector includes development of medium-density housing, such as townhouses, duplexes and other small multifamily properties. The multifamily segment of the missing middle (apartments in 2- to 4-unit properties) has generally disappointed since the Great Recession. For the first quarter of 2026, there were […]
- First Quarter 2026 Multifamily Construction DataAccording to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the count of multifamily, for-rent housing starts increased year-over-year during the first quarter of 2026. For the quarter, 107,000 multifamily residences started construction. Of this total, 103,000 were built-for-rent. This built-for-rent total was 21% higher than in the first quarter of 2025. Prior NAHB analysis suggests this […]
- Custom Home Building – A Bright Spot for ConstructionWith overall single-family construction down 5% for the first four months of 2026, custom home building has been a relative bright spot. The custom building market is less sensitive to the interest rate cycle than other forms of home building but is more sensitive to changes in household wealth and stock prices. With spec home […]
- Single-Family Built-to-Rent Slowed at Start of 2026Single-family built-for-rent (or built-to-rent, BTR) construction fell back in the first quarter of 2026, as a higher cost of financing, increased multifamily supply and policy concerns over Congressional legislation related to institutional capital froze parts of the development market. Fortunately, recent changes by the House of Representatives have addressed a harmful Senate proposal. The legislation, […]
- Cyclical Weakness for Townhouse ConstructionFirst quarter 2026 data reveal softer conditions for townhouse construction volume as housing affordability challenges affect homebuyer demand. According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, during the first quarter of 2026, single-family attached starts totaled 34,000, down 21% from the first quarter of 2025. This was […]
