The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) commends President Obama for offering proposals in last night’s State of the Union address to help families stay in their homes and stanch foreclosures, and is urging policymakers to take additional actions to mend the housing market and boost the economy.

“President Obama’s refinancing plan offers an opportunity for continued exploration of ways to aid struggling home owners and tackle the foreclosure crisis,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, a home builder from Reno, Nev. “We look forward to working with the White House and Congress to tackle this issue and continue to make progress on foreclosures that are hampering the housing market.”

In order to create jobs and further stabilize housing and the economy, Nielsen added that the Administration, Congress and federal regulators need to reopen the lines of credit for builders ready to embark upon viable projects in markets where new housing stock is needed and to ease overly restrictive

CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYMENT WILL GO UP -- very slightly -- in 2012, contractors predicted in a survey released Monday by the Associated General Contractors of America.

Modest improvements in hiring in 2011 and equally modest forecasts for 2012 will do little to compensate for two million jobs lost in construction since the start of the recession in December 2007, said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association's chief executive.

Unemployment in construction remains at 16 percent -- or nearly one in six in the business out of work.

In a best-case scenario, the organization's chief economist Ken Simonson forecasts an increase of 250,000 jobs in 2012, but that increase could easily slip to a deficit of 3,000 jobs if housing remains dismal and public spending declines drastically.

Fueling any gains are increases in power, hospital, and higher education projects, Simonson said.

As consumers increasingly switch to online buying, warehouse construction for order fulfillment is on the rise and there

In January, for the fourth month in a row, builders reported improved confidence about the market for newly built, single-family homes, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The index rose four points to a reading of 25 for the month, bringing it to the highest level seen since June 2007. (The index requires a reading of more than 50 to indicate that a majority of builders see conditions as "good" rather than "poor.")

The NAHB attributed the improvement to strengthening employment numbers and a rise in consumer confidence, which, in January,reported a fifth consecutive month of improvements, according to the Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index.

Builders aren't the only ones feeling more optimistic. "We believe this reflects our view that conditions in the housing market have bottomed and that a gradual recovery is starting to unfold," wrote David Goldberg, vice president of investments