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Americans Losing Appetite for Costly Kitchen Makeovers
September 21, 2007
Source: WSJ.com
With pending home sales at a six-year low and home prices flat, people are no longer willing to sink as much money into their kitchens as they were during the boom. Spending on kitchen renovations costing more than $20,000 was $53.4 billion in the year ending August 2007, a 40 percent drop from the same period a year earlier, according to new data from the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA), which surveyed about 20,000 consumers.
Homeowners aren't tossing in the dish towel altogether, however. The roiling market has convinced many people that it's important to update their kitchens at least somewhat to preserve resale value. Approximately 7.6 million kitchens were remodeled in 2007, according to the trade-group survey, about 200,000 more than the year before.
But, with the resale value of kitchen renovations shrinking since the end of the real-estate boom and increased difficulty getting home-equity loans or lines of credit to finance projects, consumer priorities are changing, remodelers say. Washington, DC, remodeler Chris Landis says many of his clients are looking harder at energy-efficient appliances and lighting fixtures, because they save money over their functional life. Benjamin Morey, a Laguna Hills, CA, remodeler, reports many of his clients are looking for longer-lasting products, as well as universally designed plans that will accommodate homeowners as they age.
Find out more about the current state of the kitchen and bath remodeling market.
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