Is Our Housing Market Cooling?

Fresh housing data is in the offing this week, and The Wall Street Journal is watching for warning signs.
Investors will be watching this week for further signs that the housing market is cooling. Data on existing- and new-home sales for July are on tap for Wednesday and Thursday. Existing-home sales slumped in June for the fifth time in the first six months of the year, while new-home sales fell that month to the weakest pace in eight months. Those are worrisome trends for investors who consider housing a crucial indicator of overall economic health.
Shares of home builders have tumbled this year on higher costs for labor and materials, particularly lumber, and as a rise in mortgage rates has discouraged some buyers. Lumber prices surged to an all-time high in May, driven by a trade dispute with Canada, wildfires and limited rail capacity, before pulling back this summer. Mortgage rates, meanwhile, have also hovered near multiyear highs, a shift from a period of ultracheap loans to a higher-rate environment that could squeeze first-time buyers.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

34 Trends That Will Define Home Design In 2020

Image
Kitchens 1. Three-tone kitchens.  Two-tone kitchen cabinets — meaning the upper cabinets are one color and the lower cabinets another color, or the perimeter cabinets are one color and the island is a different color — dominated kitchens in the past couple of years. So it’s only natural that designers are building on the trend rather than doing away with it. In a three-tone kitchen, one more color or material is introduced to create an asymmetry in the palette that helps define zones or functions and keeps the eye moving. Here, designer Janina Cabrera of  J Style at Home  designed a gorgeous kitchen with white perimeter cabinets, a light wood island base and a knockout powder-blue hutch. In this kitchen by  Hutker Architects , a deep navy defines the refrigerator and pantry wall to the left, joining white perimeter cabinets and a superlight wood island base. Wood via the beams, ceiling, shelves and flooring adds to the diverse three-tone palette. Designer
Read more

How to Help a Senior Loved One Downsize

By Michael Longsdon Downsizing is becoming an increasingly appealing option for older adults everywhere. According to Senior Lifestyle, 40 percent of Americans between the ages of 50 and 64 intend to move in the next five years. Among these, downsizers outnumber upsizers 3 to 1. It’s easy to see what makes downsizing so appealing. It allows seniors to simplify and streamline their life, getting rid of the things they don’t need so they can focus on the things that matter to them. However, this doesn’t mean that it isn’t an emotionally fraught and logistically complex undertaking. If you have a senior loved one who is planning to downsize, here are a few ways you can make the whole process easier on them. Visit Prospective Homes With Them House hunting can be overwhelming, so volunteer to tag along as your loved one looks for their new home. The purpose of this is twofold: it allows you to offer moral support but also to look for elements that make for a safe and appr
Read more

6 Must-Have Kitchen Design Features

Image
1. The Right Storage Your kitchen cabinets make up the bulk of what you see in your kitchen, so your  choice of cabinet color and style is a major, consequential decision. But the components inside your cabinets are equally important, if not more. Your storage solutions determine how functional your kitchen is. When you’re at the peak of cooking a large meal, you care less about the look of your cabinets and more about the ease of grabbing the right tools, spices, pots and other supplies. A kitchen designer will often take an inventory of all the utensils, dishes, small appliances and pantry items in your kitchen to figure out the right storage components for you. P ullouts, rollouts and swing-outs will efficiently organize your stuff and make things easier to find and grab. “When budget allows, we always, always recommend drawers  or pullout shelves  on the lower cabinet level,” designer Lisa Janzen of  KC Interior Design  says. “There is nothing worse than having to get on your hands
Read more