PALM BEACH,  Fla., Oct. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Analysts expect home improvement spending to reach $439.9 billion in 2020 – In the time of a global pandemic, there is indeed no place like home. As millions of Americans practice social distancing while working and learning remotely, the home has become the focal point of our lives. The desire to make residences safer, more comfortable and more enjoyable has led to a home improvement boom.   Mentioned in today’s commentary includes:  NeoVolta (OTCQB: NEOV), Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW).

The Home Improvement Research Institute predicts Americans will spend $439.9 billion on home improvement products in 2020. The online home remodeling platform Houzz reports that demand for kitchen and bath remodeling was up 40% year over date in June 2020, while home additions increased 52% and fencing projects jumped 166%. Pool and hot tub installations

North Texas home sales surged in September – up 27% from a year ago.

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It was the largest such annual price gain in more than a decade.

Real estate agents sold 11,408 single-family homes, a record number of purchases for the month of September, when sales typically slow.

But not this year.

Record low mortgage rates have caused a run on home buying even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month’s huge home sales increase is the fourth month in a row of double-digit percentage sales gains from 2019 levels, according to data from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems.

September’s year-over-year gain was the largest yet.

“It’s amazing that sales are up 27% over last years, but not surprising based on what I have been hearing,” said Paige Shipp, a housing analyst with CDCG Asset

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Home sales in Q3 2020 rise 2.5 times, launches surge 4.5 times: Knight Frank India

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, home sales volume jumped by 2.5 times to 33,403 units in the third quarter of 2020 compared to 9,632 in the second quarter of 2020. New residential unit launches increased by 4.5 times to 31,106 units in third quarter, compared to 5,584 units in the previous quarter, a Knight Frank India report has said.

Sales saw an uptick in the third quarter of 2020 over the preceding quarter on account of innovative schemes offered by real estate developers. These included financial benefits, discounts and easy payment options to attract buyers during the period of lockdown. Developers were also able to garner buyer interest through active usage of digital platforms during this period to engage with customers.

Lower home loan interest rate also supported pick-up in residential sales. The

• The National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index surged 8.8% last month to an all-time high of 132.8, signaling the US housing market’s rally continued into the fall.
• Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected an increase of 3.1%.
• The reading is the fourth-straight climb for the index. All four major US regions notched growth in August, with the West seeing the biggest improvement.
• The pace of home sales rocketed through the summer as Americans leveraged record-low mortgage rates. The sector has served as a rare bright spot in the pandemic-rattled economy.
• Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

Record-low mortgage rates drove home sales

The numbers: Sales of new single-family homes in August exceeded an annual rate of 1 million for the first time since 2006, as buyers were forced into the market for newly-constructed properties thanks to the dearth of home listings.

New home sales occurred at a seasonally-adjusted, annual rate of 1.011 million, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. That represents a 4.8% increase from an upwardly-revised pace of 965,000 homes in July. Compared with last year, new home sales are up 43%.

© Associated Press
Associated Press

• Sales of new US homes accelerated by 4.8% to an annual rate of 1 million units in August, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.
• That pace is the highest since 2006 and marks four consecutive months of increasing sales.
• The agency’s estimate of new homes for sale fell to 282,000, reflecting 3.3 months of supply at the current pace of sales. That’s the shortest period in data going back to 1963.
• Though the housing market has been one of the few bright spots in the virus-rattled economy, some fear dwindling supply will soon halt the sector’s rally.
• Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

The US housing market extended its winning streak into August as Americans continued taking advantage of record-low mortgage rates.

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Sales of new homes leaped 4.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.01 million units, the Census Bureau announced

The numbers: Sales of new single-family homes in August exceeded an annual rate of 1 million for the first time since 2006, as buyers were forced into the market for newly-constructed properties thanks to the dearth of home listings.

New home sales occurred at a seasonally-adjusted, annual rate of 1.011 million, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. That represents a 4.8% increase from an upwardly-revised pace of 965,000 homes in July. Compared with last year, new home sales are up 43%.

(Bloomberg) — Following nationwide Black Lives Matter protests this summer, Historically Black Colleges and Universities have received almost a half-billion dollars in gifts, Michael Lomax, CEO of the United Negro College Fund said. Kewsong Lee, co-chief executive officer of Carlyle Group, said that his company has not had an issue finding diverse talent, while Jon Winkelried, co-CEO at TPG Holdings LP, lamented the lack of interest from investors in diversity.

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HBCU’s Are Seeing 10X Donations This Year (3:19 p.m. NY)

Since June, Historically Black College and Universities have received almost a half-billion dollars in gifts, said Michael Lomax, CEO of the United Negro College Fund. In a typical full year, donations would be about a tenth of that, he said. The combined endowments of 101 HBCUs is

© Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison has long championed revamping the company’s e-commerce capabilities. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

• According to Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison, the company has invested extensively in e-commerce since he took the helm in 2018.
• That e-commerce overhaul — which saw the company prioritize its new store app and a shift to the cloud — couldn’t have happened at a better time.
• The coronavirus pandemic has seen consumers rely heavily on online shopping, as many look to complete projects around their homes.
• Ellison and Lowe’s CFO David Denton spoke Wednesday at the annual Goldman Sachs Global Retailing Virtual Conference.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Lowe’s’ long-awaited e-commerce revamp came at just the right time for the company to reap the rewards of the surge in home improvement spending during the coronavirus pandemic, according to CEO Marvin Ellison.

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Upon taking the helm of