More Americans are opting to renovate their homes and are hiring contractors instead of doing the project themselves, Bloomberg News reports.
It’s a “strong year” for home improvement spending, says Mike Englund, chief economist at Action Economics LLC in Boulder, Colo. He says that seasonally-adjusted annualized expenditures have risen from about $105 billion in November 2012 to about $136 billion in June.
More home owners say they plan to renovate their homes this year. Forty-three percent of home owners surveyed last month said they plan to renovate this year, up from 41 percent in February, according to a survey by RemodelOrMove.com. For the past five-years, the percentage had been averaging 33 percent in the survey.
What’s more, 74 percent of the home owners say they plan to hire a general contractor for all or some of the remodeling work.
A continued improvement in home prices “will add valuable equity to homeowners for future remodeling projects,” James Metcalf, chief executive officer of USG Corp., said on a recent conference call.
Some home owners have refinanced their mortgages, taking advantage of lower interest rates the past year. As such, “some people are feeling richer and better about the economy” and are more willing to take on large-scale projects that they may have put off during the recession, says Russell Price, senior economist at Ameriprise Financial Inc. in Detroit.
Source: “Remodeling Rebounds in U.S. With Contractors: EcoPulse,” Bloomberg News (Aug. 8, 2013) and RealtorMag
Greater Pensacola, FL Real Estate Experts – Making It Happen for Buyers and Sellers!
Grand Realty is a greater Pensacola real estate company that opened its doors in June of 2003. We strive to help all of our clients with their individual real estate needs, whether it’s buying a home in Pensacola, FL and the surrounding area or selling their existing Pensacola property.
We have approximately 30 agents with a wide range of specialties that include:
Pensacola new home buyers
Pensacola short sales
Pensacola foreclosures
Pensacola investment properties
Pensacola commercial properties
Pensacola vacant land
Pensacola waterfront properties
Grand Realty is also proud to say we have agents who are bilingual, speaking Spanish and Chinese, that are placed throughout a good majority of Northwest Florida including Pensacola, Milton, Pace, Navarre, Perdido Key, Jay, Cantonment, Gulf Breeze, and Navarre. The broker of Grand Realty is also licensed in Alabama. Please feel free to email or give us a call, and from everyone at Grand Realty, thanks for your business!
Grand Realty
4011 Pace Road Pace, Florida 32571 United States
Office Phone: (850) 512-1185
Email: Office@grandrealty.net
