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The recession has undoubtedly hurt the housing market, but most Americans say that when it comes to investments, there’s still no place like home.
Eighty percent of Americans, in fact, say that owning a home is still the best long-term investment a person can make, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Social and Demographic Trends Project.
However, current dwellers aren’t wearing rose-colored glasses when it comes to their homes. Nearly half (48 percent) of all homeowners say the value of their home has dipped during the recession. Of that segment, about half (47 percent) believe it will take three to five years for the value to return to pre-recession levels; almost 40 percent believe it will take six years or more.
According to the National Association of Home Builders’ Remodeling Market Index, the current remodeling market indices improved slightly in the second quarter in the Midwest and West regions, despite an overall national dip, including the Northeast and South regions. The RMI, which measures market demand for current and future residential remodeling projects based on remodelers’ perceptions of future activity, improved to 44.7 (from 43.8) in the Midwest and 42 (from 34.8) in the West; numbers below 50, however, indicate declining conditions.
According to the survey, remodelers also reported a change in the remodeling landscape. Sixty-one percent said bathroom remodeling was one of their most common projects in the first half of 2010; kitchen projects ranked second with 52 percent. In previous years, kitchen remodeling was reported as the most common project by more than 70 percent of remodeler respondents.
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