For the first time in six years, the overall average cost-value ratio has improved, reaching 60.6%. This is 2.9 points better than the 2011–12 number, which hit a low of 57.7% (the lowest point since at least 2001), and is more than a half-point better than the 60.0% ratio from two years ago. Cost-recouped percentages were up for all 35 projects in the survey, a complete turnaround from the 2011–12 report, when percentages dropped in all but three projects, some precipitously. Read More …
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Housing Starts Exceeded Expectations in December
Housing starts reached an annual rate of 954,000 last month, jumping 12.1% from November and up 36.9% from December 2011. “Weather played a role,” wrote Patrick Newport, U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight, in a release discussing the numbers. “December 2012 was the 10th warmest December on record for the lower 48 states, dating back to 1895. With demand picking up and inventories of new homes at near record lows, builders took advantage of the mild December temperatures by starting new homes they planned to start at a later date.” Hurricane Sandy also had an impact, as indicated by the 21% jump in starts in the Northeast. Read More …
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Clean Slate
Its looking like stainless is on its way out, this is GE's new line called slate. It's meant to soften the look of the kitchen due to the ever increasing use of the kitchen as a social area and the open conecept floor plan. So what do you think???? Read More …
Buying a Home Is 45% Cheaper than Renting
The most important housing decision that most consumers face is whether to rent or to buy. So to help them with this decision, we took a look at the key market factors affecting the cost of homeownership. First off, asking home prices have started to rebound and have risen by 2.3% year over year in August (3.8% excluding foreclosures); however, rents have risen more (4.7%). This means that prices are lower relative to rents than they were a year ago. But more importantly, mortgage rates have fallen: the best rates this summer have been around 3.5%, while last summer rates were closer to 4.5%. Based on asking prices and rents during the summer of 2012, buying is now 45% cheaper than renting in the 100 largest U.S. metros, on average – that’s a savings of $771 a month. If you plan to stay …
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