Home Time

According to some research I’ve been doing, the housing market in North America is plugging right along - in fact, In the US and Canada, housing sales just turned in a third straight winning month. There hasn’t been a three-consecutive-month increase in the overall houseing market, so I’m told by one bank, since 1984. Wow. We don’t often think about how volatile the housing market can be until you consider that a three-month streak is a 20-year occurance.

One of the more impressive stats related to all this home-buying activity is an impressive surge in renovations. In Canada for the month of March, renovations to existing homes accounted for 28% of all home-related investment. Perhaps that explains why I can’t turn on HGTV without seeing some housing project program that was filmed in Canada. Dumping a little cash into home improvements continues to be one of the most sound investments in your future that you can make, as the relative payoffs can be fantastic when it’s time to sell. The leading renovations are kitchens and baths, which seem to bring in the most bucks for resale value, followed by backyard renovations like in-ground swimming pools, which can actually be financed into a home equity or home improvement loan pretty easily.

We’d love to hear about your experiences with home-improvments and re-investment in your abode. Please drop us a line or drop by our forums and share your wisdom (or your worries). We’d love to hear what the non-banker folks think about buying new bathroom fixtures.