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• "Existing homes are moving very quickly, and it's created an additional demand for new housing," he said.
• "The industry still faces some major hurdles in upcoming flood insurance mandates and the long wait for permanent flood protection," he said, referring to a planned $2 billion diversion of the Red River around the metro area that is awaiting congressional approval and funding. "But with our strong economy, the housing needs are prevalent, and that's a good thing, because we are putting people to work and creating jobs."
• In Sioux Falls, S.D., both housing and commercial projects are on a record pace, the Argus Leader newspaper reported.
• The city issued a record $376.6 million in permits through July. About $160 million of that is for commercial projects, driven largely by a $117 million events center under construction, but the city also has a strong housing market this year, with a record 1,260 residential permits issued.
• "I've talked to contractors in this business for 40 years who have never seen it this busy," said Brian Berg, co-owner of N-Drywall and Construction in Sioux Falls.
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AP News in Brief
US orders most diplomats to leave Lahore, Pakistan; Americans warned not to travel to Pakistan
• ISLAMABAD (AP) -- The State Department has warned Americans not to travel to Pakistan and evacuated nonessential government personnel from the country's second largest city because of a specific threat to the consulate there, a U.S. official said Friday.
• The move was not related to the threat of an al-Qaida attack that prompted Washington to close temporarily 19 diplomatic posts in the Middle East and Africa, U.S. officials said.
• According to U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Meghan Gregonis, the U.S. is shifting its nonessential staff from the consulate in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore to the capital, Islamabad.
• Emergency personnel will stay in Lahore, and embassy officials do not know when the consulate will reopen, she said.
• "We received information regarding a threat to the consulate," said Gregonis. "As a precautionary measure, we are undertaking a drawdown of all except emergency personnel."
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