by Calculated Risk on 2/19/2013 09:12:00 AM

From BuildFax:

Residential remodels authorized by building permits in the United States in December were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 2,725,000. This is 6 percent below the revised November rate of 2,895,000 and is 6 percent below the December 2011 estimate of 2,901,000.

Seasonally-adjusted annual rates of remodeling across the country in December 2012 are estimated as follows: Northeast, 636,000 (up 39% from November and up 37% from December 2011); South, 1,088,000 (down 13% from November and down 1% from December 2011); Midwest, 596,000 (down 8% from November and down 17% from December 2011); West, 777,000 (down 16% from November and down 8% from December 2011).

"Repairs from super-storm Sandy attributed to the influx of Northeastern residential remodeling in December," said Joe Emison, Chief Technology Officer at BuildFax. "The last time the Northeast broke 600,000 estimated residential remodels was five years ago. Unfortunately, the rest of the country saw both month-over-month and year-over-year declines in residential remodeling activity."

The BuildFax Remodeling Index (BFRI) is based on construction permits for residential remodeling projects filed with local building departments across the country. The index estimates the number of properties permitted.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the Remodeling Index since January 2008 on a seasonally adjusted basis.

This index has generally been trending up, but was down in December even with all the repairs in the Northeast. Note: Permits are not adjusted by value, so this doesn't indicate the value of remodeling activity. Also some smaller remodeling projects are done without permits and the index will miss that activity.