The latest remodeling trends

Found an interesting report on Remodeling Trends from the recent National Association of Real Estate Editors Conference

Spending on Remodeling

The experts are predicting a slight and short-lived decline in renovation spending, in line with other national reports and studies.

Tips for working with renovators

• don’t be afraid to vet your contractor - go ahead and ask the tough questions,
• specify everything in your contract, and
• check your contractor has the proper insurance — including workers’ compensation - else you could get saddled with the liability.

Remodeling Trends & Homeowner Demand

“Nearly every panelist mentioned the pervasive influence of TV design shows”. In other words, the media is heavily shaping and influencing consumer demand. Popular trends include:

• the rise of the outdoor living space
• home kitchen and bathroom remodels are taking longer because of the selection process - more choices = more time
• radiant heat floors
• green flooring (cork or bamboo)
• more cultural diversity in color schemes
• pot-filler faucets, and
• energy-saving appliances or accessories

But the single most striking trend?

“the urbanization of cities”: in essence, more and more people are moving out of the suburbs and into cities … [and] the new urbanites, apparently, are renovators.

… city dwellers are willing to spend freely on their smaller spaces. “A survey we did a couple years ago,” Wilkinson said, “noted that people who live in condominiums spend the same amount of money renovating their homes as people who have driveways and backyards.”

Source: Remodeling the American Dream, Inman News.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007 at 10:25 am and is filed under Design & Decor Trends, Industry Trends, Remodeling, Home Improvement, Interior Design, Decorating, Renovations, Real Estate, Home Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.