Laura Kusisto

speaker

689 appearances 14 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2017 last heard Nov 2023

Laura Kusisto’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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WSJ Your Money Briefing · Lack of Housing Fuels a Home Renovation Boom · 26 Jul 2017 podcast

Yeah, it's interesting. matched

So it's this trend that is cutting against a lot of what we're talking about in the housing market. matched

We're talking about pretty low volumes of sales, considering population growth. matched

We're talking about very low levels of new construction. matched

But there's this one big bright spot, and that's home renovations. matched

So Americans are expected to spend $316 billion this year on home renovations. matched

That would be a new record. matched

And that is... matched

a bright spot, but it's only a partial bright spot because that is just less of an economic engine than new home construction. matched

Yeah, so rising prices drive home renovations in two ways. matched

One, I would say, generally is considered a good reason, and the other is considered a less good reason. matched

So the good reason that they're driving home renovations is because people have more cash in their homes. matched

So either maybe they do a straight-up cash-out refi, or maybe they just have enough confidence to dip into their savings and say, you know, I'll do that $24,000 kitchen renovation because I know that my home value has gone up by, you know, matched

$300,000 or whatever the case may be. matched

So it gives people a real shot of confidence and gives them the sense that they can invest in their homes and get that back one day. matched

The negative reason why it's driving it is because we're seeing a lot of examples of people looking around and saying, well, there's just nothing for me to buy. matched

I can't afford to buy in the same neighborhood that I've been living in. matched

If I do buy something, it's going to be a lot smaller. matched

And so you're seeing people say, well, you know what, maybe I'll just stay put and try to spruce up the place I've got. matched

Yeah, it's interesting, especially at this time when, you know, in most cases it's not that great to be a retailer right now. matched

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