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Home Remodeling Grows Again in March
May 15,
2011 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in economic news on May 16, 2011
BuildFax's home remodeling real estate index, which grew for the 17th straight month in March, could be good news for furniture retailers.
Austin, Texas-based BuildFax reported Monday that remodeling continued with year-over-year gains, even while the economy continues to struggle and the real-estate industry continues to be challenged.
The March 2011 index shows that all regions except the Midwest posted year-over-year and month-over-month gains. The West posted the largest gains, up 18.5 points, or 22 percent, year-over-year; and up 5.4 points, or 6 percent, month-over-month. The Midwest saw significant drops, down 15.3 points (20 percent) year-over-year; and 3.3 points (5 percent) month-over-month, perhaps due to a colder winter. The Northeast gained 2.7 points (4 percent) year-over-year; and 4.5 points (8 percent) month-over-month. The South improved 7.8 points (10 percent) year-over-year and 7 points (9 percent) month-over-month.
"The winter of 2010/2011 was one of the worst on record," said Joe Emison, vice president of research and development at BuildFax. "The economy is continuing to struggle and gas prices have soared, however, consumers in March still continued spending on renovations and home improvements as they drove the remodeling industry to yet another month of solid gains compared to a year ago. Significant improvements in the West continue to drive activity nationally to the best year in remodeling since 2006. Even though the Midwest saw a drop this winter, early data shows that remodeling in all regions will continue to prove out the economic recovery in 2011."
The Residential BuildFax Remodeling Index in March 2011 rose 14 percent year-over-yearand for the 17th straight month to 98, the highest March number in the index aside from March 2006. Residential remodels in March were up month-over-month 2.9 points (3 percent) from the February value of 95.1, and up year-over-year 12 points from the March 2010 value of 86.