Sales of new single-family homes jumped 6.2 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 units, the Commerce Department reported Monday. This marks the highest pace for new-home sales since October 2007. “The October report shows strong sales growth at entry-level price points,” says Granger MacDonald, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders. “In markets where builders are able to provide homes for famil
Developers are continuing to shrink the size of new single-family homes, according third-quarter housing data compiled by the National Association of Home Builders. The median square footage of a single-family home was 2,378 square feet in the third quarter.In the years following the Great Recession, builders were focused on the higher end of the market, catering to larger-sized homes. But more recently, builders have renewed their focus on the e
As more builders face labor shortages, they’re starting to look for new and faster ways to train more workers.For example, the Colorado Homebuilding Academy, a nonprofit organization, opened this year to offer a free eight-week “boot camp” to help increase the builder labor force. The course is founded and funded by Oakwood Homes, a homebuilder based in Denver that is owned by Berkshire Hathaway."Every single year, the labor situation has b
Lennar Corp. and CalAtlantic Group, two of the country’s largest residential builders are merging to form America’s largest home builder in a $9.3 billion deal. The merger will cover around 240,000 building plots or home sites in 21 states, and the combined company will have about $18 billion in market capitalization.Lennar and CalAtlantic operate in 31 of the same markets nationwide. CalAtlantic, however, will bring new markets such as Salt
realtor.comFarmhouse chic is all the rage in home decor these days, thanks largely to Chip and Joanna Gaines from "Fixer Upper," who play up this style in many of the homes on their show (Hello, "barndominium"). The recent news that "Fixer Upper" will soon be ending for good provides all the more reason to embrace this trend. Soon, it'll be all we'll have left of Chip and Jo! (Sniff.)But before you go all Beverly hillbillies on us, reme
Let’s say it costs $3,000 to make old hardwood floors look new again. That’s a lot of money, especially if your client is just getting the house ready to list. But of all the remodeling projects homeowners can do to increase the resale value of their property, refinishing the floors is at the top.Of course, no one can predict with certainty whether the investment will pay off, but recent research suggests it will have a big ROI—most likely
Vinyl is the most common primary exterior wall material on single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction data from 2016.Vinyl tops the list at 27 percent, followed by stucco at 24 percent, brick or brick veneer at nearly 22 percent, and fiber cement siding at 20 percent. Wood or wood products comprised just 4 percent, and stone, rock, or other stone materials make up only 1 percent of exteriors nationwide. Ho
Sales of newly built single-family homes rose 18.9 percent last month, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. This represented the highest sales rate since October 2007, with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667,000 units, after an upwardly revised August reading. Compared to last year, new-home sales are 8.6 percent above their level during the same period in 2016."New-home sal
As homeowners gain more equity, they are expected to continue heavily investing in home improvement projects and repairs through the third quarter of 2018, according to the latest Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity report released by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The LIRA index projects annual gains in home renovation and repair spending of 6.3 percent for the fourth quarter of 2017 and up to 7.7 percent by
The preferences of baby boomers and millennials are reshaping multifamily homes in urban areas, but the two generations don’t always agree on what they want in a home, posing challenges for developers who are striving to meet both groups’ needs. Buyers from both generations are sparking greater demand for condos, as baby boomers downsize and millennials look to purchase a starter property.Overall, both generations show a greater desire for sm
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