BFRI: Residential remodeling activity rose 18 percent year-over-year in December 2010

BuildFax, Austin, Texas,released the latest findings of its monthly BuildFax Remodeling Index, in addition to a comprehensive review of remodeling activity throughout last year, according to a Feb. 15 release.The findings indicate that in December 2010, residential remodeling activity rose 18 percentyear-over-year and for the 14th straight month.

In most of the country remodeling in 2010 resembled what 2008 might have looked like had the housing market not collapsed. In the Northeast, however, 2010 was the worst year in the history of the BuildFax Remodeling Index.

On a regional basis, the West and South both saw better-than-average remodeling activity in December, with the South posting a four-year high, and the West posting an index high. The Midwest suffered its usual significant November-to-December decline, and the Northeast continues to lag all other regions while still showing signs of recovery. The BuildFax Remodeling Index for the Northeast was down 4.1 points (5 percent) month-over-month but up 1.3 points (2 percent) year-over-year; the South was down 0.6 points (less than 1 percent) month-over-month but up 9.1 points (12 percent) year-over-year; the Midwest was down 11.8 points (11 percent) month-over-month and down 0.1 points (less than 1 percent) year-over-year; and the West was up 2.9 points (3 percent) month-over-month and up 11.3 points (12 percent) year-over-year.

“Throughout the country—even in the lagging Northeast—the last quarter of 2010 shows promise for increased remodeling activity in 2011,” said Joe Emison, vice president of research and development, BuildFax, in the release.“The winter is always the trough of the seasonal remodeling cycle, and December 2010 was better than or equal to December 2009 in every region of the country.”

The BFRI directly reports residential remodeling activity across the nation.The monthly information, derived through related building permit activity filed with local building departments across the country, reports trends in remodeling activity for the entire United States, as well as for the four major regions of the country: Northeast, South, Midwest, and West.