White House to get 90,000-square-foot addition
The most notable home in the country — the White House — will undergo a major remodel.
A new ballroom will be added to the White House, adding about 90,000 square feet with a seated capacity of 650, according to an official statement.
It's to meet demand for a location to “host major functions honoring world leaders and other countries without having to install a large and unsightly tent approximately 100 yards away from the main building entrance.”
The new ballroom is described to be “ornately designed” and renderings show all white and gold interiors. President Donald Trump selected McCrery Architects, Clark Construction and AECOM as the planning and production firms. The addition will begin in September and will cost about $200 million.
Trump also paved much of the White House's Rose Garden recently.
James McCrery, founding principal of McCrery Architects, designed the Book and Gift Store in the U.S. Supreme Court Building and several churches across the country. Trump appointed McCrery to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts — a seven-person group that offers design and aesthetic insight to the president — in 2019 and he served until 2024.
Clark Construction is building the Department of Homeland Security Building and the National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial. The firm previously built the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the International Spy Museum, and others.
Housing is holding back economy, Goldman Sachs says
The lead economist for investment bank Goldman Sachs predicted the housing market will keep economic growth muted this year, according to CNBC.
Chief Economist Jan Hatzius suggested the number of new single-family homes will decline through 2025, pointing toward immigration policy and affordability concerns.
President Trump’s ramping up of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity will likely slow down immigration and in turn, slow down housing formation, which would decrease the demand on new construction, Hatzius said.
A household formation analysis from earlier this year by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University found immigration is the only source of population growth for the country.
Affordability, which remains a top concern for many buyers, could also dampen economic growth, according to Goldman Sachs. Hatzius cited the high rate of mortgage buydowns offered by builders that help homebuyers achieve lower monthly payments through lower mortgage rates. The majority of homebuilders offer some kind of sales incentive to buyers today, according to recent data from the National Association of Home Builders.
Most millennial homeowners delay repairs
The majority of millennial homeowners are procrastinating on home repairs, a study from Ace Hardware has suggested.
The retailer asked 1,000 millennial homeowners — born between 1981 and 1996 — about their approaches to home repairs and factors keeping them from making fixes. The results found that 84% of surveyed homeowners have delayed making improvements.
Most of the repairs were related to some kind of electrical issue, according to the survey, such as new wiring and fixes to outlets, switches, dimmers, ceiling fans and smoke detectors, for example. The second category needing the most repairs was heating and cooling, including furnace and air-conditioning installation, maintenance or repair, plus heat pump servicing. Plumbing was the third most-delayed type of home repair, with items such as bathroom fixtures, toilets, kitchen pipes and garbage disposals needing work.
The survey also suggested that 87% of millennial homeowners have a repair project underway. Most of these homeowners would hire a professional rather than taking the DIY route.
