Construction, Real Estate & Infrastructure

Miami – September 20, 2026 -- Lennar Corporation posted third-quarter net earnings of $284 million, or $1.19 per diluted share, down from $591 million, or $2.29 per share, a year earlier, as rising mortgage rates and weakening affordability cut into homebuilder margins.

New orders drop 9% as buyers retreat from higher rates

New orders fell 9% to 20,879 homes in the quarter ended September 20, 2026, while deliveries declined 3% to 20,840 homes, within the company's guided range of 20,500 to 21,500. Total revenues reached $8.0 billion, with revenues from home sales down 6% to $7.7 billion on a 3% drop in average sales price to $372,000 from $383,000 a year ago.

Vancouver – September 20, 2026 -- West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has entered into a new $500 million three-year term loan maturing in September 2029, with part of the proceeds retiring its existing $300 million term loan due in 2028.

New financing boosts liquidity to over $1.2 billion pro forma

The Company's $1 billion syndicated credit facility remains outstanding on existing terms, with approximately four years remaining to its May 2030 maturity. Interest on the term loan continues to be payable at floating rates based on US Base Rate Advances or SOFR Advances at the Company's option. The loan is repayable in whole or in part at any time without penalty, though amounts paid down cannot be redrawn.

San Jose del Cabo – September 19, 2026 -- Pacaso has sold six of eight ownership shares in Playa Linda, its newest co-owned residence in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, with one-eighth stakes priced from $872,000.

Playa Linda anchors a fully furnished five-bedroom home in Palmilla Norte

Located along the San Jose Corridor in Palmilla Norte, one of Los Cabos' most established beachfront communities, the 4,892-square-foot property has five bedrooms and six bathrooms with views of the Sea of Cortez. The home is Pacaso Design Certified and includes an infinity pool, jacuzzi, palapa lounge and kiva-style outdoor fireplace.

Miami – September 19, 2026 -- Miami-Dade County has already logged 194 home sales of $10 million or more through August 2026, surpassing its entire 2025 total of 170 transactions by 14.1% with four months still remaining in the year.

At the current sales pace, the county is projected to close 2026 with roughly 291 ultra-luxury transactions, obliterating the prior record of 230 set in 2021 during the pandemic buying surge, according to data released by MIAMI REALTORS® + RWorld, the MIAMI MLS, and BeachesMLS.

South Florida Averages One $10 Million Home Sale Every Day

The region posted the most $20 million-plus condo sales in its history during 2025 and the second-highest total of $10 million-plus home sales ever recorded. South Florida single-family owners who bought 15 years ago hold over $500,000 in home equity, compared with $333,700 nationally as of Q2 2026.

Las Vegas – – September 19, 2026 -- Endra unveiled Endra Power Studio, the first agentic AI platform purpose-built for electrical engineering, and simultaneously acquired Swiss AI firm Planlabs to bring mechanical engineering capabilities in-house.

Power Studio compresses a two-month electrical design job into under a day

The platform runs electrical design end-to-end: engineers load a building model, set requirements, and instruct agents to execute the design while signing off at each stage. Endra says a code-compliant electrical design for a 500,000 square foot commercial building, traditionally a two-month process, can now be completed in less than a day.

Pittsburgh – – September 19, 2026 -- Two inventors from Waldron, Ark., have developed the EASY-PULL PULLING EYE, a device designed to speed up horizontal directional drilling (HDD) operations by enabling pullback directly with an HDD hammerhead.

Device eliminates costly bore removal step in trenchless drilling

The tool removes the need to pull an entire bore out of the ground and swap heads before pulling back pipe, a step that currently consumes time and labor on trenchless drilling projects. By allowing pullback directly with the hammerhead while maintaining proper tension, the design targets a reduction in downtime during HDD operations.

Orlando – September 19, 2026 -- Florida's housing market snapped an 11-month streak of year-over-year sales gains in August, as closed sales of existing single-family homes fell 1.4% to 21,497 units, according to Florida Realtors' latest report.

Condo-townhouse sales also decline as higher mortgage rates weigh on demand

Condo-townhouse transactions totaled 7,291 units in August, down 1.8% compared to August 2025. Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O'Connor said the state had seen 12 consecutive months of year-over-year growth in new pending sales for single-family homes and 11 straight months of growth in closed sales before the streaks ended in August. He attributed the reversal to mortgage rates that have risen through the first half of 2026, narrowing and then flipping the year-over-year rate gap that had previously supported sales momentum.

Austin, Texas – September 19, 2026 -- BuildersUpdate.com has introduced a "Pay Upon Performance" marketing model that eliminates upfront fees for homebuilders, charging a flat fee starting at $1,000 per property only when a sale closes.

Homebuilders shift away from upfront marketing spend amid rate uncertainty

Rising costs, fluctuating mortgage rates and cautious buyers have made it harder for builders to convert leads into closed sales, prompting scrutiny of traditional lead-generation models that require payment regardless of outcome. BuildersUpdate.com's new structure ties marketing costs directly to closed transactions rather than lead volume.

Pittsburgh – – September 19, 2026 -- A California-based inventor has developed a patent-pending tool called the V-SQUARE designed to help builders square vertical members quickly and accurately when framing openings for doors and windows.

Tool measures two distances simultaneously to speed up framing work

The adjustable device allows users to measure two distances at once, cutting the time needed to create consistent square openings for vertical members. The inventor, from La Mirada, Calif., said the design targets builders who need a fast and accurate way to install vertical members where a uniform square opening or space is required.

Franklin, Tenn. – September 19, 2026 -- Copper prices have surged past $6 per pound just months after crossing the once-unprecedented $5 threshold, forcing commercial construction teams to rebuild how they price and manage electrical scope, according to new analysis from Josh Vogel, CFO at bimetallic wire and cable manufacturer Copperweld.

Copper's climb past $6 per pound redefines commercial bidding risk

Vogel notes that commercial projects carry outsized exposure to copper volatility because design, permitting, bidding and mobilization can stretch beyond a year — a window during which copper prices can move multiple times before wire ever reaches a jobsite. Unlike residential construction, where material pricing typically adjusts closer to installation, commercial pricing assumptions are locked early in the contract cycle and tested later, leaving general contractors and owners exposed to cost swings they cannot easily absorb.