Sales of new single-family houses were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 482,000 and compared to June 2014 this was an increase of 18.1 percent. However June 2015 sales were 6.8% below the revised May 2015 rate of 517,000. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of June was 215,000, representing a supply of 5.4 months at the current sales rate. For more information please visit US Census Bureau.
With a recent increase in US residential home sales, there is an expected 4% increase in US residential remodeling spending for the first quarter in 2016 according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The second quarter of 2015 experienced a 4.3% increase to $144.7 billion compared to the $138.7 billion spent during the same time period of 2014.
“Other signals of strengthening remodeling activity include sustained growth in retail sales of home improvement products and ongoing gains in house prices across much of the country,” says Abbe Will, a research analyst in the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center. “Rising home prices means rising home equity, which should encourage improvement spending by a growing number of owners.” (http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/)
The LIRA is published quarterly and is designed to estimate national homeowner spending on improvements for the current quarter and subsequent three quarters.
References:
“Pick-Up Projected in Home Improvement Activity Moving into 2016.” (Press Release from the Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University). Web. 30 July 2015.
The Lacey Act of 1990 was the first US conservation law
which prohibits trade wildlife, plants and plant products that have been obtained illegally or traded in violation of the laws of a foreign nation. The Lacey Act has come under scrutiny again with the reintroduction of the Freedom from Over- Criminalization and Unjust Seizures Act of 2015 (FOCUS Act) by U.S. Senator Rand Paul and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. They aim to remove any reference to foreign laws in the Lacey Act and substitute the criminal penalties with civil penalties. For more information on the Lacey Act visit: US Fish and Wildlife Services For more information on the FOCUS Act
visit: https://www.congress.gov/
New data released by the U.S Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that the sale of new single-family houses in July 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 507,000. This is a 25.8% increase from July 2014 and a 5.4% increase from the revised June 2015 sales.