KBB - January/February 2012 - (Page 9)

EDITOR’S NOTE Signs of Spring I’ve been reading up a little on New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, who was recently appointed by President Barack Obama to co-chair a task force created to investigate criminal misconduct in the financial collapse. And I feel cheered. According to a The New York Times article, prior to his appointment, Schneiderman had kept a low profile in his first eight months as attorney general until his refusal to give a pass to some of the country’s biggest banks in a lawsuit alleging misconduct during the mortgage crisis landed him on the pages of many a national publication. Despite pressure from officials in the Obama administration, he declined to join the nationwide settlement that would have granted banks such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan and Chase immunity from prosecution in exchange for a payment of $20 billion. Some viewed the deal as being too soft on the financial institutions. Question what you will the timing of the president’s decision, but at the very least, knowing someone as principled as Schneiderman is helping to lead the investigation makes me hopeful that maybe some form of restitution will be made to those most negatively impacted by the crisis, which can only be a good thing for us all. As several news pundits have noted of late, fixing the economy will require addressing the issue of housing. There are other positive signs for us as an industry to feel encouraged by. According to the National Association of Home Builders’ Remodeling Market Index (RMI), remodelers were feeling more upbeat toward the end of 2011 than they had in the previous five years. While an RMI below 50 indicates more remodelers reported lower market activity than those who reported higher activity, the fourth quarter saw that number rise from 41.7 in the third quarter to 46.6. As it relates to current market conditions, the RMI increased from 43 to 48.4 and, in terms of future indicators of remodeling business, climbed from 40.4 to 44.8. What’s more, improvement in current market conditions was experienced in all regions of the country, with activity particularly high in both major and minor additions: 52.3 from 45.2 and 50.1 from 45.7, respectively. Remodelers also received more calls for bids and made more appointments for proposals. Finally, despite lingering feelings of uncertainty, the designers featured in Focus (page 20) mentioned they were working on a variety of projects, including new construction. A sign of recovery? Let’s hope so. Alice Liao, Executive Editor aliao@kbbonline.com Circle No. 5 http://www.classicisland.com http://www.classicisland.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of KBB - January/February 2012

KBB - January/February 2012
Contents
Online Contents/News
Editorial
Show Director’s Note
Road to KBIS
Consumer
Web Savvy
Focus
Abroad
Trends
Products
Design
Mid-century Makeover
Modern History
Education
Ad Index
Last Word

KBB - January/February 2012