Residential remodeling notches upward tick

The number of remodeling permits recorded by BuildFax Remodeling Index for the month of August 2012, reached a level previously recorded more than four years ago. Yet another positive sign on the road to recovery for the remodeling industry.

Overall, the national residential remodels authorized by building permits in the U.S. from the month of August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3,204,000.

This is three percent above the revised July rate of 3,112,000 and is five percent above the August 2011 estimate of 3,053,000.

Broken down by regions, the seasonally adjusted annual rates of remodeling across the country in August 2012 were estimated at:

•  Northeast, 895,000 (down four percent from July, up 20 percent from August 2011);
• South, 1,302,000 (down three percent from July, up 21 percent from August 2011);
• Midwest, 588,000 (up five percent from June, down seven percent from August 2011); and
• West, 832,000 (up three percent from July, down four percent from August 2011).

“The number of residential remodeling projects in August was the most permitted since April 2008 on a seasonally-adjusted basis,” says Joe Emison, Vice President of Research and Development at BuildFax. +