A big culprit to the ongoing housing shortage: The dwindling number of new-home construction over the last several years. A new study from John Burns Real Estate Consulting is putting it into perspective at just how much new-home construction has been lagging: The top 10 housing markets in the country are building at a rate that is 54% lower than they were 14 years ago.Markets like Chicago, Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., and Las Vegas have bee
Housing starts posted “healthy gains” in recent weeks as homebuilders feel more confident about the new-home market, the National Association of Home Builders reports.Led by an increase in multifamily production, total housing starts surged 12.3% in August, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.36 million units, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. This marks the highest level since May 2007.Single-family starts rose 4.4
Today’s homes are filled with sensitive, sophisticated electrical appliances that may take commands from phone apps and voice-activated devices. But they can’t yet ward off increasingly unpredictable weather.Bad storms bring powerful lightning and hurricane-force winds that cause an increase in power surges that shut off lights, stop refrigerators, and in worst cases, overheat and fry appliances. Replacing equipment can become costly.Plugging
A master bedroom is meant to be a peaceful place to relax and recharge. That’s why designers say a lot of attention needs to go into its look: to make sure it fulfills that purpose. Design experts also say an uninviting master retreat could negatively affect resale value, so there’s more at stake in the bedroom design than a night of restful sleep.“One thing to keep in mind is that form follows function, meaning the visual appearance of you
Fewer new homes are being built with a fireplace, a sign the cold-weather amenity is falling out of favor with home buyers. A record low percentage of newly constructed single-family homes—41%—last year included a fireplace, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data from the National Association of Home Builders. The share of single-family homes with fireplaces has been declining since 2015, the NAHB reports.“An obvious explanatio
More homeowners are using reclaimed wood from barns, factories, and log cabins to decorate their modern homes, The Wall Street Journal reports. They’re using the reclaimed wood to decorate everything from ceilings and flooring to window accents. “They want it to look as primitive as possible,” Klaas Armster, co-author of the upcoming book Reclaimed Wood: A Field Guide, told the Journal.Old-growth timber is no longer avai
Some homeowners take on more than they should with do-it-yourself home projects. They could wind up hurting their home value.Homeowners hope to save money through DIY takes on projects, but some lose that savings when they sell. Chicago-area home inspectors recently shared with The Chicago Tribune some of the common DIY mishaps they most often see, including:Using online videos as tutorials.Homeowners may follow an online tutorial to in
Sales of newly built single-family homes dipped 12.8% in July, but homebuilders aren’t looking at the nosedive as bad news. So far this year, new-home sales are up 4.3% over last year, and builders say that’s progress. “Builder confidence continues to trend upward as lower interest rates provide for more favorable buying conditions,” says Greg Ugalde, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders.New-home sales dropped to a season
A meadow-inspired green is paint firm Behr’s top pick for the 2020 Color of the Year. Color forecasters expect the hue, called “Back to Nature,” to surface in more home interiors over the next year to bring a sense of the outdoors to the indoors.“As we look ahead to a new decade, Back To Nature encourages us to reengage with the natural world, which we know can have a real, positive impact on our well-being,” says Erika Woelfel, vice pr
The appeal of outdoor living continues to be important to homeowners, and the outdoor kitchen is at the center of that. The latest American Institute of Architects Home Design Trends Survey shows that outdoor kitchens are among the most wanted kitchen features in new architectural projects.Nearly 50% of the architect respondents surveyed reported the popularity of outdoor kitchens is still growing. The popularity is seen in markets across the cou
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