As homeowners, we like options. That is, until we have too many; then options become chores (and no one likes chores). To prevent your search for cabinets and countertops from devolving into “choredom,” it’s important to whittle down your alternatives using a set of criteria that reflects what is most important to you in your…
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Home Builder Confidence and Lot Supplies
May 16, 2017 New Lot Development is Not Keeping Up With Demand Builder confidence indicators show that home builders are extremely confident. That said, the pace of new construction fell in April (-2.6% versus March, and essentially flat versus a year ago). We see the overall pace of new home construction as still rising at a…
Builder Confidence Back to 2005 (Peak!) Levels
March 15, 2017 Home builders are feeling more confident than they have any time since the (2005) peak of the housing market. Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes jumped six points to a level of 71 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This is the highest…
Top 5 Best & Worst Cities for Homeowner Happiness
Happiness is important to everyone, so HomeAdvisor decided to see just how much a person’s happiness is influenced by where they live. The first-ever survey of its kind, the poll is a comprehensive look at the things that make people happiest about their homes and their communities. After looking at the results, it’s clear that…
Quoteables from KBIS
February 1, 2017 Credit: KBIS Record attendance at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) in January illustrates the growth in this sector of the home improvement industry. I heard a lot of insightful discussions about the industry at KBIS, which inspired me to jot down some valuable nuggets and merge them with my own…
Leading Indicator Points to 6.7% Growth in 2017
January 19, 2017 (Photo from Joint Center of Housing Studies) One of the indicators I like to watch is the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA), put out by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. The latest update is out now, and it incorporates new data from the Census Bureau (the American Housing Survey). …
Home Improvement and the White House
January 3, 2017 The election of a new president can have both positive and negative effects on the economy — and on the home improvement industry in particular. There is a lot of uncertainty about what lies ahead no matter your ideology. Here’s a look at some possible scenarios. On the positive side, tax cuts…
Five Things To Know About Home Office Attitudes and Trends
December 13, 2016 Shift in Home Office Trends Home offices became increasingly popular during the 1990s and 2000s, but as of the last few years, some renovation pros are seeing a decline in the demand for home improvement services related to working from home. More and more people are working from home, so why the…
3rd Quarter: Real Estate Revenue Growth Surpasses Most Other Industries
December 12, 2016 Boom in Real Estate Revenue The economy is growing at a relatively modest pace, but new data from the Census Bureau show that revenue in real estate and rental and leasing is growing faster than the other industries that the agency tracks. Total revenue for the third quarter of 2016, in a…
The 2017 Housing Market Forecast
The 2017 housing outlook is one of diverging trends. HomeAdvisor’s forecast calls for single-family housing to rise at a rate similar to the 2016 rate, but for multifamily construction (apartments and condos) to fall, as the recent apartment boom finally winds down. The single-family home increase is because of job growth and rising household formations,…
When Mortgage Rates Rise, Home Improvement Will Follow
November 29, 2016 By: Brad Hunter, HomeAdvisor’s Chief Economist As mortgage rates increase over the next few years, home improvement activity is likely to increase with them. This may seem counter intuitive, but you can expect two somewhat opposing effects: one highly positive and one slightly negative. Negative Effect The negative effect will stem from…