Tag: home improvement

Home Improvements Among Pandemic Spending Winners – Can It Sustain?

August 11, 2020 by Zelman & Associates

In 2019, growth in consumer expenditures was solid, increasing 4% from 2018, a trend that continued into January and February of this year with consistency across spending avenues. However, the pandemic upended consumer habits and priorities...

Filed Under
home improvement macro housing

“Steep Slowdown” on the Horizon for Home Improvements?

July 26, 2019 by Zelman & Associates

Last week, The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (JCHS) released its Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) with a concerning headline: “Steep Slowdown Projected in Home Improvements.” We first wrote about the ...

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home improvement survey

Aging Housing Stock and Land Availability Segments Country in Housing Needs

March 09, 2018 by Zelman & Associates

As of 2017, we estimate that there were approximately 124 million households spread across the country, represented by single-family homes (68%), 5-plus unit multi-family buildings (18%), duplexes to quadplexes (8%) and manufactured housing ...

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home improvement homebuilding macro housing

Home Improvement Outlook Strong, but Discount Overly Optimistic Forecasts

January 26, 2018 by Zelman & Associates

It is our opinion that no single data source appropriately captures consumer home improvement spending trends, with limitations for many of the often-cited statistics such as retail sales for building material locations and construction spending ...

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home improvement survey

Cash-Out Refinances Gaining Share, but Not the Macro Impact that You Might Think

December 01, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

Last week, Freddie Mac released its quarterly refinance statistics for 3Q17. The analysis uses a sample of properties where Freddie Mac has funded two successive conventional, first-mortgage loans, and the latest loan is for a refinancing. ...

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home improvement mortgage refinance

Do You Realize the Unreliability of Widely-Cited Construction Spending Statistics?

October 06, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

Every month, the Census Bureau publishes The Value of Construction Put in Place Survey, which is intended to provide monthly estimates of the total dollar value of construction work done in the United States. As it relates to the residential ...

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home improvement macro housing survey

LIRA a Home Improvement Resource with Limitations Worth Recognizing

September 08, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (JCHS) is a widely-respected research center that contributes various thoughtful analyses around the housing market and demographics. In 2007, the organization introduced The Leading ...

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home improvement survey

A Sign of Discretionary Home Improvement Projects Gaining Steam

August 25, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

Over the last four years, our national home improvement proxy index has increased 6.0% annually, holding in a relatively tight range of 5.8-6.2%. To frame how dramatically the market has shifted from the depths of the recession, our index was ...

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home improvement survey

Amazon Tackles Appliances – Impact to Home Depot and Lowe’s?

July 28, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

Last week, Amazon announced an agreement with Sears to begin selling the Kenmore brand of appliances through its website, starting with air conditioners and expanding to a full-line of home appliances at a later date. ...

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home improvement

House “Flipping” Hints at Redevelopment of Stale Existing Home Inventory

June 16, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

Last week, ATTOM Data Solutions released its quarterly Home Flipping Report, meant to quantify homes that were purchased and sold within a 12-month period in an arms-length transaction. Historically, we believe that house flipping has carried ...

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existing home sales home improvement macro housing