Job growth, low borrowing costs, a recovery of home equity, and unseasonably good winter and spring weather has prodded Americans into spending more money on their homes.
Bloomberg reports that spending on residential construction projects just finished its strongest three-month period since 1994.
Additionally, home improvement spending was up 32 percent year-over-year in April, and a residential remodeling index by Metrostudy was a record-high 107.3 in the first quarter, up 4.5 percent from last year. Residential contractor employment has added more than 500,000 jobs over the past six years.
“The current strength of the remodeling market can be attributed primarily to economics -- low mortgage rates, strong existing-home sales, the bull stock market run, good job gains, and now more recently, wage gains,” Mark Boud, chief economist at the provider of real estate research, said in a statement.
PB Topical Ref
