Aug 23 2007 11:07AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (1) |
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I've been thinking about this a lot lately, after a friend who works in marketing said he assumed the remodeling market would be going great now because of the slowdown in new construction. 

Generally, weakness in any part of the home market is bad for the rest of the market. If people aren't buying homes and prices are stagnant or dropping, it removes a lot of the impetus for remodeling. Plus, disarray in the lending market makes it more difficult for people to get home equity loans or other financing to undertake projects. Overall, record home sales were a lot better for remodeling sales.

On the other hand, if people have the money and are trying to decide whether to move or remodel, remodeling's got to look pretty attractive these days. Why go through the headaches and costs of moving, dealing with real estate agents and showings if you don't have to? 

Encompass Design Build in Vienna, Va., has made this the centerpiece of their recent marketing campaign, pointing out the benefits of staying in your home. Gardner/Fox Associates outside of Philadelphia does a nice job of pointing out the costs of moving on their Web site. (This doesn't even take into account the stress factor of trying to sell in this market.)

I'm certainly not going to go as far as saying the problems in new construction are good for remodelers, but there is a silver lining here.