Sales of new homes plunged by a record amount in 2007 while prices posted the weakest showing in 16 years, demonstrating the troubles builders are facing with a huge backlog of unsold homes. Purchases of new homes fell 4.7% just in December 2007 to a 12-year low, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Monday, in a statement (pdf). The number of new homes sold in 2007 sank 26.4% to 774,000, which beat the revious record fall of 23.1% set in 1980. The median price of a new home last year was almost the same level as in 2006, up only 0.2% at $246,900. Many analysts have predicted that prices will continue to fall in 2008 as builders struggle to sell a glut of new properties. Finnaly I know that here on Freshome we focus more on inspiration, but this post might be thoughtful information for US interior designers. - Via - Yahoo

The Black and White Bookself is an interesting DIY project presented by Apartment Therapy and shows how a simple bookcase was transformed in this beautiful bookcase. The project is quite simple and the costs are just $75 for this projects, and you can see the step by step instructions for how this was done on Apartment Therapy. While watching this project I think that buying old pieces of furniture and making the beautiful and unique could be an excellent business especially if you are a talented designer.

Do you like to listen music at high volume, throw a lot of noisy parties, or anything that is to loud for your neighbors ? If your answer is “Yes” then you might do something or your neighbors will do something you reall don’t want. Wired Magazine gathered the data you need to soundproof your apartment from a real experience of a couple how just moved into a new home, and had this problem. The woman is a professional percussionist and with so much noise they really needed to soundproof their apartment.

Did you know that even when household appliances are turned off, most are still using some electricity ? Good magazine has an interesting chart in their latest issue that details how much energy your vampire devices use, and how much it costs you to keep them plugged in. You can see the interesting vampire shaped illustration here. For example a plasma TV, for instance, can cost about $160 per year just to keep plugged in. I’m sure that this guide will be quite useful for those people who want to earn every penny. - Via - Lifehacker

I’ve always been amazed by how good some minimalist houses look, and for those who want to know more about minimalist homes I’ve found an artcile on Zenhabits from where you can learn a lot of useful stuff, and create you dream home in a minimalist style. If you are not a big fan of minimalist homes just read the benefits of such a home, and you’ll become a minimalist fan right away.

1. Less stressful. Clutter is a form of visual distraction, and everything in our vision pulls at our attention at least a little. The less clutter, the less visual stress we have. A minimalist home is calming.
2. More appealing. Think about photos of homes that are cluttered, and photos of minimalist homes. The ones with almost nothing in them except some beautiful furniture, some nice artwork, and a very few pretty decorations, are the ones that appeal to most of us. You can make your home more appealing by making it more minimalist.
3. Easier to clean. It’s hard to clean a whole bunch of objects, or to sweep or vacuum around a bunch of furniture. The more stuff you have, the more you have to keep clean, and the more complicated it is to clean around the stuff. Think about how easy it is to clean an empty room compared to one with 50 objects in it. That’s an extreme example, of course, as I wouldn’t recommend you have an empty room, but it’s just to illustrate the difference.

If you want to know more, be sure to check the rest of the article on Zenhabits.