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Despite fears of a double-dip recession, home owners are choosing to invest more money in upgrading their homes. Home owners who can’t afford to sell their properties and buy new are realizing if they can’t move anytime soon, they want to fix up the home they have.
Remodeling activity reached a record high during July, according to the BuildFax Remodeling Index, which has tracked residential remodeling activity since 2004. The July index increased 24 percent year-over-year to 130.4, the highest to date. It was the 21st straight month the index increased.
“As millions of Americans believe that they will not be able to secure a new home due to a variety of factors including tight credit, limited buyers and challenging job prospects, they are more and more turning to renovating and remodeling their current properties, sending remodeling activity to record levels,” said Joe Emison, Vice President of Research and Development at BuildFax. “However, this remodeling boom is leaving many of these properties under-insured, as the value of these renovations are often not being captured by the home owners’ insurance companies.”
BuildFax says it's important for home owners to make their home insurance is up-to-date after major remodeling projects. Many home owners fail to increase the insurance on their homes to account for the remodeling projects, which means their insurance doesn’t likely reflect the true value of their home.
