Florida Virtual Houses

Are sales up for remodelers, painters and flooring contractors?

Continue Reading Add comment December 5th, 2008

Sales are down for private homebuilders, but remodelers and painting and flooring contractors seem to be doing reasonably well, according to data from financial analysis and software company Sageworks.

Private homebuilders saw sales drop 5.35% so far this year but sales for residential remodelers climbed 5.31% and increased 7.43% for finishing contractors.

Sageworks suggests this might be happening because homeowners unable to sell their homes are instead investing in home improvements. Are sellers sprucing up homes to make them more attractive to buyers? Hard to know. I’m a little skeptical. Home Depot, for one thing, is having a tough time. Help me out. Any painters or remodelers out there?

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Lower mortgage rates no silver bullet

Continue Reading Add comment December 5th, 2008

Reducing mortgage rates to a historically low 4.5% may entice some home buyers out of the shadows, but it won’t be enough to really spur housing sales, experts said. Read more »

WestLB’s 129,000-SF Move to 7 WTC Brightens Downtown Picture

Continue Reading Add comment December 5th, 2008

A major new lease from a financial firm is rare in New York City these days, especially around embattled Wall Street. So yesterday’s announcement that a financial firm will scoop up a large block of trophy tower space in Downtown Manhattan came as a pleasant surprise.

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