Archives for October 2011

Millions of homeowners opting to remodel over buying a new home

October 20, 2011 By EmmanuelFonte Leave a Comment

Remodeling at an all time high

According to BuildFax’s August Remodeling Index, remodeling activity hit an all time high (since recording began in 2004) and based on permit data, rising nearly ten percent in the last year. Over 3.3 million residential remodeling projects are on track to be permitted in 2011, up from 3.1 million in 2010. Remodeling activity has risen every month for nearly the last two years straight.

“As mortgage rates hit record lows, it is apparent that millions of Americans are refinancing their homes and using some of their new monthly savings to reinvest in their homes with remodeling projects,” said Joe Emison, Vice President of Research and Development at BuildFax. “With remodeling activity growing at an estimated 9.5 percent in 2011 compared to 2010, this is one segment of the economy that is showing continued strength, even as other sectors struggle.”

Regional trends

According to National Mortgage Professional, BuildFax’s Index “is the only source directly reporting residential remodeling activity across the nation with monthly information derived through related building permit activity filed with local building departments across the country. This monthly report provides month-over-month and year-over-year comparisons on trends in remodeling activity for the entire United States, as well as for the four major regions of the country: Northeast, south, midwest and west.”

The Index reveals that in August, the west region rose 33.6 percent, the midwest jumped 11 percent and the south rose 8.2 percent. Declines were seen in the northeast of 0.8 percent and in the northeast, dropping 3.9 percent and although the report doesn’t seem to track why regions are performing so differently, but with Hurricane Irene hitting the east coast and droughts in the south, the environment hasn’t been friendly in all areas to remodeling, as homeowners are performing repairs. The scene appears to be remodel-friendly, however, and with two years of increases, homeowners are making the choice to stay put for longer.

Filed Under: Home Remodel

Inflation Is A Thing Of The Past?

October 20, 2011 By EmmanuelFonte Leave a Comment

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The October 2011 Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers (CPI-U) released today puts the September year-over-year inflation rate at 3.87%, which is fractionally below the 3.96% average since the end of World War II.

For a comparison of headline inflation with core inflation, which is based on the CPI excluding food and energy, see this monthly feature.

For better understanding of how CPI is measured and how it impacts your household, see my Inside Look at CPI components.

For an even closer look at how the components are behaving, see this X-Ray View of the data for the past five months.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has compiled CPI data since 1913, and numbers are conveniently available from the FRED repository (here). My long-term inflation charts reach back to 1872 by adding Warren and Pearson’s price index for the earlier years. The spliced series is available at Yale Professor Robert Shiller’s website. This look further back into the past dramatically illustrates the extreme oscillation between inflation and deflation during the first 70 years of our timeline. Click here for additional perspectives on inflation and the shrinking value of the dollar.

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Filed Under: Economy

Keaton Music Typewriter

October 20, 2011 By EmmanuelFonte Leave a Comment

Keaton Music Typewriter typewriters music design

File this under archaic devices I had no idea existed. Here’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a mint-condition Keaton Music Typewriter. Patented in the early 1930s, there are only a dozen or so in existence. What does it do? Exactly what you think it does. Via musicprintinghistory.org:

The Keaton Music Typewriter was first patented in 1936 (14 keys) by Robert H. Keaton from San Francisco, California. Another patent was taken out in 1953 (33 keys) which included improvements to the machine. The machine types on a sheet of paper lying flat under the typing mechanism. There are several Keaton music typewriters thought to be in existence in museums and private collections. It was marketed in the 1950s and sold for around $225. The typewriter made it easier for publishers, educators, and other musicians to produce music copies in quantity. Composers, however, preferred to write the music out by hand.

Having taught music notation in University, I can confidently state, most would take Finale over this, any day!

Underground Balcony?! Beautiful Barn Home with a Twist

October 20, 2011 By EmmanuelFonte Leave a Comment

There are plenty of lovely features to faun over in this domesticated version of a modern barn, but what stands out (both literally and otherwise) at first glance is a most unusual move that inverts the typical idea of a viewing platform.

By extending a concrete element out at basement level, residents are able to experience a combination of enclosed privacy and focused views over the water next to which the property sits.

Back to the main building, though: Yukiharu Suzuki & Associates styled the essential structure after the traditional form of a barn, with subtle tweaks to make it homey while returning a larger look and industrial-plus-agricultural aesthetic.

Spacing between slats allows in limited direct and indirect daylight on all sides, depending upon sun angle and time of day, while traditional mobile Japanese screens can subdivide spaces on demand.

Filed Under: Architecture

Rental Market Emerges as Housing’s Bright Spot

October 19, 2011 By EmmanuelFonte Leave a Comment

“With rental demand rising and apartment economics improving, the multifamily sector is a positive signal for the U.S. housing industry,” writes Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist, in the October 2011 U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook.

An increase of 1.4 million households moved into rental housing in the year ending June 2011–a 4 percent rise in the number of tenant households in one year alone, the Census Bureau reports. Meanwhile, the home ownership rate dropped about 1.5 percent over the past year.

“While home sales remain sluggish despite the most affordable purchase market in decades, households have turned to rental to meet their shelter needs,” Nothaft writes in the report.

The increase in rental demand is due partially to some households who may have faced a short sale or foreclosure of a home they owned, Nothaft notes. However, he says most of the rental demand is coming from young and newly formed households, who are postponing home ownership. The home ownership rate for household heads under 30 years of age has fallen the sharpest in recent years.

As demand increases, vacancy rates are dropping and rents are rising. New construction for larger apartment buildings is also increasing, as property sales rise. Dollar-sales volume of apartment buildings was at its highest point in the second quarter since 2007, according to Real Capital Analytics. New construction starts of apartment buildings with at least 20 dwellings is also on the rise, posting its highest level since the end of 2008 in the second quarter too.

Source: Freddie Mac: October 2011 Economic Outlook

Filed Under: Real Estate Tagged With: rental market

Tiny Triangular House Narrowly Fits its Little Plot

October 18, 2011 By EmmanuelFonte Leave a Comment

It could be home to a Japanese version of Doctor Who, this unusual space that strangely looks larger from the inside than an outside view would have it appear.

300 square feet can pose a construction challenge on any plot of land, but is a particularly complex puzzle on one that is shaped like a triangle.

Every building code was scoured and rule bent to breaking to create this quaint little abode, bending and twisting in response to limitations of and opportunities allowed by rules and regulations of Tokyo, Japan.

Mizuishi Architect Atelier developed bump-outs, skylights and select double-height spaces to help alleviate the tension of awkward acute angles that converge in curious places inside and out.

Higher ceiling in the entryway and a visual connection to the loft above make for a surprisingly open feel to the dwelling from within, an openness reinforced with white whiles and a bare minimum of decoration.

Filed Under: Architecture

Eco-friendly home upgrades that pay you back

October 17, 2011 By EmmanuelFonte Leave a Comment

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Filed Under: Home Remodel Tagged With: Eco-friendly home, green home, home remodel

Should You Refinance Your Home?

October 17, 2011 By EmmanuelFonte Leave a Comment

With the lowest mortgage rates in history now tempting anyone paying off a mortgage, many are asking the question, “Should I refinance?” There is no shortage of “rules of thumb” to help you get to an answer: some say you should refinance only if you can lower your interest rate by at least one percentage point; others point out that refinancing makes sense only if you plan to remain in the property for at least five to seven more years.

But there is another way to think about it: how will one mortgage affect your financial bottom line over the next five, ten or however many years you plan to live in your home, factoring in not only the effect on your cash flow, but your wealth, including mortgage equity built, at the end of that period. This, simply put, is achieved by calculating the so-called net benefit, a concept used by my financing partner to help users determine whether refinancing makes sense. The infographic below explains the concept of net benefit in more detail.

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Filed Under: Economy, Real Estate Tagged With: refinancing

5 Custom Sliding Door Solutions for Oddly-Shaped Spaces

October 17, 2011 By EmmanuelFonte Leave a Comment

Good space costs too much money to waste – but bad space can be made better, too. Byproducts of home remodeling or artifacts of upper-level condo construction, unusable corners and awkward ceiling angles may be more workable than they first appear.

Bartels Doors sells all kinds of doors, but some of their most interesting offerings are in the forms of partitions, pockets and other sliding space dividers that hang on walls or slot into hiding places.

Many of these address common-but-uncomfortable conditions, like a vent hood that would otherwise block kitchen cabinets or the interior angle between open areas. If they are a bit expensive to purchase for most homes, they at least suggest good do-it-yourself strategies for those so inclined.

Others are just clever ways to make a door more than just a door – a window panel, for instance, lets you look in on one selected shelf of books for easy reference and a touch of decor, while mirrored panels (with optional flat-screen TVs) may make a bedroom feel more spacious and open.

Filed Under: Architecture, Home Remodel