As sea levels rise, architects are brainstorming ways to make homes more resilient to flooding. A floating unit is being singled out as a living solution for coastal areas.Oceanix, a nonprofit that designs and builds floating cities, and the MIT Center for Ocean Engineering are showing off a futuristic concept of a floating city. The floating communities can expand, contract, and combine to form cities in prefabricated hexagonal islands of 4
House renovation and design television programs may be prompting more buyers to shed some of their fixer-upper fears. Nearly 60 percent of home shoppers recently surveyed said that home renovation television has made them more optimistic about renovations, according to a new realtor.com® survey of about 1,000 consumers who are planning to buy a home in the next 12 months.As inventories remain tight in some markets, home buyers are eyei
When newcomers move into low-income neighborhoods and begin rehabbing homes, it can prompt a much-needed rush of investment into the community. But with gentrification comes higher home prices—and the possibility that long-term residents will be priced out of the market.Gentrification isn't without controversy, but it has transformed many cities such as New York and San Francisco. Realtor.com® notes that gentrification can be a double-edged sw
DIY home improvement jobs can end in disaster. And even when they don’t, projects can become time-consuming and costly. Botched DIY home improvement jobs can also lead to quarreling among loved ones, shows a new survey from Porch.com, a home improvement website. Porch.com surveyed more than 1,000 homeowners to discover the biggest sources of tension and mistakes during home improvement projects.A third of homeowners say they tackle house projec
New-home construction is picking up in some markets. But what lures some buyers to new-home construction over a previously owned home?Older home buyers—between 54 to 72 years old—are the most likely to purchase a new home, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ newly released 2019 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report.Many buyers—38 percent—who purchased new homes say they were looking to avoid renovation
New-home construction is poised to break ground at faster rates in several markets across the country. This could open up housing inventory in some places starved for more homes for sale.“Adding new homes is key to a city’s economic health,” says Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders. The bulk of the new-home construction is occurring in the South and Southwest, where land and construction costs tend to
Seventy-eight percent of home buyers say a linen closet in the master bathroom is “desirable” or an “essential/must-have feature,” according to the National Association of Home Builders’ 2019 What Home Buyers Really Want Survey. The report is based on responses from recent and prospective home buyers who plan to purchase within the next three years.Buyers were asked to rate a list of features they most wanted in a bathroom. A shower sta
More homeowners plan to spruce up their homes this year, but a lot of things can go wrong—particularly financially—when setting out to do a home remodel. More than a quarter of home renovation projects go over budget.Some of the biggest budget breakers for owners completing a home renovation project, according to a new infographic from Job Site Image, a company that offers construction photo documentation, are:Choosing more expensive pro
Builders added fewer homes to the pipeline in February, but the National Association of Home Builders says the numbers may be misleading about the extent of the actual shortfall.Total housing starts plunged 8.7 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.16 million units, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Tuesday. (The annual rate is the number of housing units builders would begin if they kept pace for the next 12 months.)
More potential home shoppers may be getting spooked by recent news headlines about the housing market, and they may be making them skittish. Sixty-two percent of surveyed home builders say “negative media reports” have made it problematic for them in attracting buyers this year, among the top concerns they identified to attract buyers, according to a survey by the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.Other is
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