Bath Planet Featured in the Times of Northwest Indiana

Bath Planet was recently featured in the Times of Northwest Indiana in an article titled, "Bathroom safety design for aging generations includes grab bars and improved tubs".

The article includes several home improvement specialists in the area and talks about the rebound of the home remodeling industry.  Bath Planet Dealer Melvin Dixon mentions that his business is up 15 to 20% in 2012.  The article mentions that Dixon recently became a Bath Planet dealer and it’s helped his business since the aging population wants to live in a safer home.

Click HERE for the full article or begin reading below:

Bathroom safety design for aging generations includes grab bars and improved tubs

By: Philip Potempa 

Keeping people safe, in their homes and while out and about, is the career mission for Porter County Sheriff David Lain.

And no matter what age, education and awareness are a lifelong process, according to Lain, who has included new special programs for senior citizens.

His Porter County TRIAD, specializing in "senior citizen safety messages and programs," has been around since 2005.

Bath Planet in the Altoona Mirror

Bath Planet was recently featured in the Altoona Mirror.  The article includes several home improvement specialists in the area and talks about the rebound of the home remodeling industry. Bath Planet Dealer Melvin Dixon mentions that his business is up 15 to 20% in 2012. The article mentions that Dixon recently became a Bath Planet dealer and it has helped his business since the aging population wants to live in a safer home.

Click HERE for the full article, or begin reading below:

Remodeling firms expect robust year
By: Walt Frank

David McCloskey is not planning a vacation this summer, after going away last summer for the first time in 15 years.

"Last year was dead. I went to Maine. I always wanted to see the coastline," said McCloskey, owner of David E. McCloskey Remodeling and Building, Altoona.

This summer should be more back to normal for him, as all signs point to a strong rebound for home improvement activity, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

From Crash to Climb: the housing market recovers?

The one thing that hit family wealth the hardest in the past decade: the housing market crash. Not only did decreased home values force families to stay put, the impact reached far beyond a moving halt. Those who found themselves unemployed also found their job searches diminished due to the lack of mobility. Finding a job outside of a commutable range was simply out of the question.

But have we reached an end to the dark decline? Dare we say we have reached the bottom of the hill and are ready to start the slow and steady climb up? Consumption has begun to increase and values do seem to be recovering (roughly 5% greater than the previous year as of October), but with what do we measure a full recovery? Some, including The Big Picture at ritholtz.com, argue that 2012 could forever be known as the year the housing market recovered. We'll let you decide.

Begin reading the article below or click HERE.

Was 2012 the Year the Housing Market Recovered?

By: Daniel Carroll and Samuel Chapman 

On many occasions during the past few years, housing market conditions have been cited as a key factor contributing to the slow recovery. For a typical household, the largest component of wealth is house value. As house prices fell and sales were depressed, household wealth shrank. The decline in house values has been indicted as leading cause of restrained consumption, as households saved from current income to recoup the loss in housing wealth. The decline in house values has also been suggested as partly responsible for stubbornly high unemployment due to “lock-in,” where a household that is underwater on its mortgage limits its job search because it cannot afford to move.

Fortunately, over this past year there have been signs of modest, yet sustained, improvement in the housing market. According to the latest report, sales of single-family units, both of new and existing, have been up year-over-year from January to November. The latest month shows new and existing sales up by 15.3 and 12.4 percent, respectively, compared to their values in November 2011. Since April 2012, monthly sales of existing multifamily units have also been positive relative to the previous year, with the November data turning in a whopping 33 percent increase.