Will Remodeling Save the Housing Market?
The experts are talking and the focus is a remodeling boom. It appears that after bouncing along the bottom for the last few years, remodeling activity is picking up. Analysts say this is good news for the housing market, and we agree.
Here's an excerpt from an article by Mike Sorohan of the Mortgage Bankers Association:
The quarterly Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., projects annual consumer spending on remodeling projects to grow by 5.9 percent by year-end.
Eric Belsky, managing director of the Joint Center, said stronger pending home sales and continued low interest rates have created a healthier outlook for remodeling activity.
“Hopefully, we’re finally moving beyond simple volatility in the home improvement spending numbers to a period of sustained growth,” Belsky said. “The recent upturn we’ve seen in home sales should translate into more remodeling activity later this year.”
This is good news for homeowners, home buyers, real estate agents and local builders. With the current housing stock full of vacant homes in need of TLC, the remodeling spike is an indicator of people buying and fixing up homes. That's great for buyers and builders alike. It's also good for real estate agents - selling homes is their goal, after all.
For homeowners, remodeling is a great way stay in their homes while adding to them or making some much needed changes. Refinancing to remodel could be a much better alternative to selling a house in a market where home prices have steadily dropped over recent years. To refinance and renovate is to turn a house you like back into the dream home you love.
Each of these scenarios can be done with the help of the FHA 203k home improvement loan. This renovation loan option can help a home buyer get into a fixer upper and have the work done by a professional. It can also help a homeowner refinance their mortgage and pay for the upgrades they want or need. Either way the FHA 203k will add about $6 a month to your house payment for every $1,000 in work you finance. If your house payment is $700 and you're financing a $20,000 home improvement project then you'll pay about $820 per month for your house payment on the dream home.
Remodeling activity picking up is good news for local businesses like builders and real estate agents because these renovation loans (and the remodeling boom) bring jobs to town. It's en exciting time for the housing market after years of bad news. And the 203k can help spur further remodeling activity.
You can learn mroe about the FHA 203k and how it can help this remodeling boom really take off. Download "The FHA 203k Survival Guide" at the button below. A refinance mortgage for home improvements just might be up your alley this year.
(celiing work: Flickr user mjtmail (tiggy))