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BUYING PREFERENCES
What Home
Buyers Want
Price and proximity to work are
key concerns for first-time home
buyers, while trade-up buyers tend
to be most focused on the design of the
home and the neighborhood, according to
���Characteristics of Home Buyers,��� an analysis
of the U.S. Census Bureau���s recently released
2011 American Housing Survey (AHS) by the
National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
More than 90 percent of the
sales reported in the 2011
AHS were existing homes,
a significant increase from
previous years. However,
more than half (55 percent)
of the people surveyed for
���What Home Buyers Really Want,��� NAHB���s
consumer preferences study, said they would
prefer to purchase a new home rather than an
existing home.���
The ���Characteristics of Home Buyers��� report is
available at: HousingEconomics.com.
HOME VALUE
BUILDING MATERIALS
Values Rise for 15th
Consecutive Month
Ainsworth to
Restart OSB Plant
Home values rose for the 15th
consecutive month in January,
according to the ZillowHome
Value Index.
January home values were up
0.7 percent from December 2012,
and 6.2 percent from last year.
The 6.2 percent annual gain is the
largest since July 2006, when
home values rose 7.5 percent
year-over-year. The last time
national home values were at this
level was in June 2004, according
to Zillow. Of the nation���s 30 largest metro areas covered by Zillow,
27 showed monthly home value
appreciation. Metro areas with
the largest monthly gains in
January included San Francisco
(2 percent), Tampa, Fla. (2 percent), San Diego (1.8 percent),
Riverside, Calif. (1.7 percent) and
Sacramento, Calif. (1.5 percent).
Vancouver-based Ainsworth, a
Canadian manufacturer of engineered wood products for residential, commercial and industrial applications, announced
plans to restart its High Level,
Alberta, OSB mill and begin the
hiring process to fill more than
135 positions at the plant.
These positions will add to the
600 people that Ainsworth currently employs.
CASE-SHILLER INDICES
Home Prices
Strong in 2012
U.S. home prices ended 2012
with strong grains in all three
composites, according to the
S&P;/Case-Shiller Home Price
Indices. The national composite
posted an increase of 7.3 per-
STATISTICS
Types of
Technology
Used by
Remodelers
Smart phones ��� 85%
Desktop computers ��� 86%
Laptops ��� 71%
Ipads ��� 35%
Standard cellular ��� 40%
Source: National Association of Home Builders
8
April 2013
QR
ForResidentialPros.com
Mobile apps from mfgs. ��� 36%
GPS systems ��� 46%
VoIP ��� 10%
Other tablets ��� 13%
cent for 2012. The 10- and
20-city composites reported
annual returns of 5.9 percent
and 6.8 percent in 2012. Monthover-month, the 10- and 20-city
composites moved into positive
territory with gains of 0.2 percent. In addition to the three
composites, 19 of the 20 MSAs
posted positive year-over-year
growth.
LEAD PAINT
Opt Out Amendment
Reintroduced
U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)
has reintroduced S.484, the
Lead Exposure Reduc tion
Amendments Act of 2013, to
a m e n d t h e EPA���s L e a d
Renovation, Repair & Painting
Rule. The amendment would
make the following changes to
the RRP rule:
��� Prohibit EPA from expanding the RRP rule to commercial
and public buildings until EPA
conducts a study demonstrating the need for such an action.
��� Providing exemption for
first-time paperwork violations
and provides for an exemption
for renovations after a natural
disaster.
��� Eliminate the requirement
that recertification must be
hands-on, preventing remodelers having to travel to training
facilities outside of their region.
1.
Submit your Top 500
application.
Submit your information to be
recognized on this year���s Top
500 list.
ForResidentialPros.
com/10854778
2.
Apply for the Master
Design Awards.
Registration is open for the 35th
annual Master Design Awards.
Submit your best projects.
ForResidentialPros.com/
QRAwards
3.
Read Residential
Building Products
News online.
Flip through QR���s sister publication to read about 110 new
products.
ForResidentialPros.com/
magazine/rdb
4.
Listen to a podcast.
Editorial director Rob
Heselbarth talks to NKBA president John Morgan about the
latest trends in kitchen and bath
design.
ForResidentialPros.com/
media-center
5.
Take NARI
recertifcation quizzes.
NARI and QR have teamed to
offer NARI credits. Read articles
and take the corresponding
quizzes.
ForResidentialPros.com/
narirecertification