Hopeful Sign for Housing

The Commerce Department recently announced some encouraging news for the people who build homes and consumers who want to buy them. Single-family housing starts increased by 6.9 percent in November.

It was the first monthly increase since August. The National Association of Homebuilders says the jump in housing starts reflects the need of many builders to replenish their inventory of new homes for the Spring 2011 buying season. The fact that builders believe their inventories of new homes are too low is a good sign. But it's also clear that builders have learned important lessons during the past three years. There may be more buyers in 2011, but they'll be very discriminating. Many of them will be looking for more value, more features, healthier living environments and energy savings.

The fact that BEAM Central Vacuum Systems improve indoor air quality means that if you're shopping for a new home in 2011, there's a good chance that a BEAM system will be either a standard feature or an affordable upgrade.