Now May Be The Perfect Time to Remodel

An interesting story from the Wall Street Journal on how now may be the perfect time for home renovation projects, "It's not the best time to be selling a house in much of the country. But increasingly, it's a good time to build or renovate one.

The housing slump has pushed down prices on everything from lumber and drywall to labor and design fees. Legions of carpenters, tile layers and landscapers are idle. Architects are taking on small renovation projects they once would have sniffed at and contractors are offering their services at a discount. Some people in the building trades are even posting fliers at construction sites to drum up business.

It's a striking contrast from the heady days of the real-estate boom, when builders and contractors could hardly keep pace with demand, prices of materials soared and a six-month wait to start a kitchen renovation was commonplace.

Now, some homeowners are moving forward on renovation or building projects they've put off for years. Others are exacting substantial price cuts from contractors desperate for work.

A few months ago, Mike Bowes remodeled the bathroom and guest bedroom of his $200,000 condo in Las Vegas. The job, which cost $14,000, included a walk-in shower, a new vanity, bamboo flooring in the guest room and re-textured plaster on the walls and ceilings. Last year, the same work would have cost nearly twice as much, he estimates, "and I would have had to beg someone to do it." Now, the 47-year-old commercial roofing sales manager is planning to upgrade his kitchen, living room and porch. While prices remain low "I'm going to keep going," he says.

...More homeowners will renovate their kitchens this year -- 7.57 million, up from 7.44 million in 2006 -- but they will spend a lot less, $96.2 billion compared with $127 billion, according to the National Kitchen & Bath Association. Bathroom renovations this year are expected to rise by 5.3% to 10.9 million from 2006, while spending on them will grow 3.8% to $70.2 billion from 2006, the trade group projects.

One reason some renovations will cost less this year is the falling price of many key building materials. The price of oriented strand board, a plywood substitute used for walls and roof sheathing, dropped 40% from the third quarter of 2005 to the same quarter this year, according to the National Association of Home Builders. During the same period, framing-lumber prices fell 24%, says the association. And drywall prices -- which soared during the real estate run-up to a record -- dropped 35% from last year's third quarter, according to United States Gypsum Co., the largest manufacturer of drywall in North America.

'If you're going to do any kind of construction...now is the best time you're going to have to do that in the next five years,' says Bill Harrison of Harrison Design Associates, an Atlanta-based architecture firm that specializes in high-end homes."

Read more of the article at the Wall Street Journal.

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