2009 Property Report for U.S. Released by Xactware

OREM, Utah — Overall construction costs flattened last year to a rate not seen in seven years, according to Xactware’s 2009 Property Report for the United States. 

A leader in property insurance, remodeling, and restoration estimating solutions, Xactware compiles year-end reports that provide insight on major trends in the property insurance and construction industries. This year’s report reveals the current recession played a large role in the rate of change for many building materials, equipment, and labor during 2009. In fact, Xactware’s overall Material and Labor Index declined less than a fraction of a percent — a huge departure from 2008, when the index increased more than 3 percent. 

“The year 2009 was interesting in terms of pricing trends,” said Mike Fulton, Xactware’s assistant vice president of Pricing Data Services. “We have not witnessed this kind of cost flattening since 2002.” 

The report also shows the average cost to rebuild a structure increased 0.96 percent nationally, compared to a 3.95-percent increase in 2008. In addition, key indicators of building material costs such as lumber, drywall, roofing, and carpet decreased throughout the year. 

Xactware’s in-house pricing research staff, which has more than 400 combined years experience in construction and estimating, gathered and analyzed all data contained in the report. Xactware’s staff also tabulated construction material indexes using data collected from 430 U.S. markets to ensure a high degree of reliability in reported rate changes. 

“A clear understanding of last year’s trends can help property insurance professionals make better decisions regarding their areas of responsibility,” Fulton said. “This report is full of useful information that can assist in planning for the year ahead.” 

Additional findings in the 24-page report include: 

• the rising disproportion between average home selling price and reconstruction costs
• trends in reconstruction costs for each state
• the total value of claim estimates reported to Xactware
• the volume of claim estimates reported to Xactware per month
• the average claim value by type of loss
• the rising popularity of green building material and techniques

For more information about Xactware’s 2009 Property Report for the United States, or to order it, click here [1] or contact the Xactware sales team at 1-800-424-9228.

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About Xactware
Xactware Solutions, Inc. (Xactware) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Verisk Analytics specializing in the property insurance, remodeling, and restoration industries. Xactware's technology tools include software estimating programs for PCs and tablet PCs, as well as powerful online systems for replacement-cost calculations, estimate tracking, and data trending in real time.

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