{"id":1004067549,"date":"2013-02-20T07:07:07","date_gmt":"2013-02-20T15:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004067549"},"modified":"2022-12-08T19:46:22","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T03:46:22","slug":"economy-watch-homebuilder-confidence-remodeling-activity-down-sequester-dead-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-homebuilder-confidence-remodeling-activity-down-sequester-dead-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Economy Watch: Homebuilder Confidence, Remodeling Activity Down; Sequester Dead Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Edito<\/em>r<\/p>\n

For the homebuilding industry, the last year or so has been one of increasing optimism, buoyed by increasing sales. The industry is still a lot more optimistic than it was this time last year, or certainly two or three years ago, but the National Association of Home Builders has nevertheless reported a downward blip in homebuilding confidence in January.<\/p>\n

According to the NAHB on Tuesday, its housing market index dropped one point from January to 46 in February. The component gauging current sales conditions fell by a single point to 51, while the component measuring sales expectations in the next six months rose by one point, to 50. The traffic-of-prospective-buyers component, which is considerably weaker than the other two, became even weaker by slipping four points, to 32.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving risen strongly in 2012, the [index] hit a slight pause in the beginning of this year as builders adjusted their expectations to reflect the pace at which consumers are moving forward on new-home purchases,\u201d NAHB chief economist David Crowe said in a statement. \u201cThe index remains near its highest level since May 2006, and we expect home building to continue on a modest rising trajectory this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Remodeling Activity Down as Well\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Residential remodeling also experienced a downtick in December, according to BuildFax, which collects and analyzes construction records nationwide. The company reported on Tuesday that residential remodels authorized by building permits in December were at an annualized rate of 2.725 million, which is 6 percent below the revised November rate of 2.895 million and 6 percent below the December 2011 rate.<\/p>\n

The decrease came despite the remodeling spike in December in the Northeast, which saw 39 percent more permit work than in November, and 37 percent more than a year earlier, because of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. By contrast, all other regions of the country saw drops in remodeling activity, even though the general trend for remodeling has been mostly up in recent quarters as homeowners feel more secure in their jobs and that their property values aren\u2019t going to fall through the floor again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last time the Northeast broke 600,000 estimated residential remodels was five years ago,\u201d said Joe Emison, chief technology officer at BuildFax, in a statement. “Unfortunately, the rest of the country saw both month-over-month and year-over-year declines in residential remodeling activity.”<\/p>\n

Sequester Dead Ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n

President Obama took to the presidency\u2019s bully pulpit on Tuesday to cajole Congress into acting on the upcoming sequester, raising the prospect of damage to military readiness and domestic programs, not to mention slower economic growth. Congress will return from recess on Feb. 25, which is just in time to prevent the $85 billion sequester, with its unpredictable impact on the economy, from beginning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Or not. Currently there\u2019s little evidence that any kind of compromise will be reached within Congress, with Republicans averse to voting for Buffett-rule tax increases and Democrats averse to cutting entitlement spending to shore up defense outlays. By design, the sequester doesn\u2019t apply to the benefits of either the Social Security or the Medicaid, and cuts in Medicare benefits are capped at 2 percent of the baseline level.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Back after Presidents Day, Wall Street had a positive day on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 53.91 points, or 0.39 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.73 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 0.68 percent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Homebuilding confidence saw a downward blip in January. Residential remodeling also experienced a downtick in December. And President Obama is urging Congress to act on the $85 billion sequester after returning from recess Feb. 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":952,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21742],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004067549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEconomy Watch: Homebuilder Confidence, Remodeling Activity Down; Sequester Dead Ahead - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-homebuilder-confidence-remodeling-activity-down-sequester-dead-ahead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Economy Watch: Homebuilder Confidence, Remodeling Activity Down; Sequester Dead Ahead\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Homebuilding confidence saw a downward blip in January. 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