Struggling Housing Market Leads To Remodeling Boom

Recent trends show that the decline in the housing market has resulted in big success for the remodeling market.

Lee Ann and Matt Dunlap tried to sell their home last winter. They would find houses that they liked, but they all needed improvements, 10TV’s Andrea Cambern reported.

“They all needed updates and quite a lot of money,” Lee Ann Dunlap said. “So we decided, ‘Well, let’s take that money and invest it into our own house.’”

The Dunlaps took their home off the market and got to work on their remodel.

According to remodeler Angela Bonfante, the Dunlaps followed a trend that is sweeping the nation.

A Harvard survey found that Americans spent about $116 billion on remodeling in a year, the biggest increase in five years, Cambern reported.

Bonfante said that her business has benefitted greatly from the troubled housing market.

“A lot of folks have decided to remodel instead of sell their homes,” Bonfante said. “They aren’t finding that they’re going to get their money out of their home.”

Bonfante said that those who do choose to remodel get more for their money in workmanship, and in quality of materials.

According to Bonfante, in this economy, contractors work hard to keep and attract businesses and some local suppliers run sales.

“There are bargains to be had,” Bonfante said.

Bonfante said that most of her customers, like the Dunlaps, are not in it to flip their houses, but to prepare them for the long haul.

Bonfante said that her most common requests are for new mudrooms, kitchens, bathrooms or hardwood floors.

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