American Homeowners Benefiting More from Technology

RISMEDIA, Jan. 3, 2008-Technology helps homeowners more every year. Homeowners are among the biggest beneficiaries of technology innovations. Every year new technologies help homeowners save more money and/or make our lives easier. The growing importance of Internet commerce was underlined by the 2007 holiday season. While retail sales overall remained flat between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Internet sales of consumer goods during that period rose 20%. Much of that reflected homeowners skipping the drive to crowded shopping malls and opting instead to save money on gas and reduce global warming by ordering online (a choice made even easier by the growing number of merchants who offered free shipping and fast deliveries during this holiday season).

Homeowners are increasingly using the Internet to help them buy or sell homes and everything else. Craig’s list and eBay are becoming popular places to buy and sell homes, cars, and hold a yard sale. Home sellers often turn to discount real estate brokers who for a modest fee will put their listings on a network of public real estate Web sites where most home buyers (over 80%) now conduct their home searches.

At a recent Justice Department symposium, the head of DOJ’s Antitrust Division hailed the progress in the U.S. voice, video and high-speed Internet markets. Recent progress in telecommunications has been “nothing less than breathtaking,” according to Assistant Attorney General Thomas Barnett. The evidence includes the growing versatility and popularity of wireless devices, faster residential Internet connections, and increasing competition in the television market. Cross-platform competition, such as telephone companies offering video, and cable companies offering phone service, has “clearly benefited consumers” by giving them more choices and lower prices, Barnett noted.

This has been achieved thanks a combination of regulatory and legislative actions, forbearance, and industry investment. The Federal Communications Commission imposed new rules on local governments in late 2005 setting time limits for decisions on franchise applications from potential competitors to local cable TV company monopolies. State legislatures have also gotten involved, many of them passing similar state laws in 2007. As a result, competition in TV services is breaking out at the state and local level, reducing the cost of cable TV services by an average of 15%, according to FCC figures. The new opportunities are stimulating infrastructure investments. Wireless carriers invested more than $23 billion in build-outs in 2006; fiber-optic services companies spent $25 billion; and the cable industry invested more than $12 billion during the same period, according to Standard & Poor’s. Research also continues apace on wireline Internet access – which would let consumers access the Internet through their home’s electric wiring if the technology can be perfected.

Competition is also sparking more consumer choices in telecommunications. Verizon Wireless announced that it will open its network to any compatible device in 2008 and AT&T allows customers to use any compatible phone on its network. An FCC spectrum auction in 2008 will bring new competitors to the wireless market, including companies like Google to bid on parts of the spectrum reserved for networks open to all devices that might operate on that network.

The build out is making Internet access increasingly available to rural and underserved homeowners and other consumers. Higher Internet speeds will also help stimulate the growth of teleworking, which includes both telecommuting and the growing number of Internet-centric home based businesses (eBay alone has several million “power sellers” who make a full or part time living off of Internet commerce. Both help reduce auto pollution and its effects on global warming. In addition, they reduce the demands on the U.S. transportation infrastructure which can potentially result in billions of dollars in tax savings for expenditures on transportation, infrastructure, maintenance and expansion.

Healthcare will also benefit by the telecommunications build out. Under development are a number of wearable wireless medical monitoring devices, which will enable many of the millions of chronically ill homeowners to remain in their homes while their conditions are remotely monitored 24/7. Homeowner and federal medical program savings through the avoidance of nursing home, hospital and other medical costs could run into billions of dollars. Health IT legislation wending its way through Congress will enable patients to maintain comprehensive medical records online so that doctors they authorize will be able to make more accurate diagnoses, and have advance knowledge of any allergies to certain prescription drugs, etc.

Homeowners and their families spend substantial amounts on entertainment, and barriers are tumbling in digital music. Until last year most of it was controlled by digital rights management (DRM) software that restricts what you can do with a song download. In 2006 EMI, a major music label, began selling music without copy controls on Apple’s iTunes and other stores. Wal-Mart and Amazon.com then opened MP3-download stores, with less restrictions on downloads than iTunes. Apple responded by cutting prices and expanding the selection of its DRM-free offerings; Microsoft, in turn, added a million MP3s to its Zune store. This leaves us to wonder how long it will take before the movie studios react in a similar manner.

Technology innovation and competition will no doubt continue to deliver new benefits and savings to homeowners in 2008. Let’s hope that it continues to make our lives easier, and helps to offset the growing costs of so many other goods and services that are essential to American homeowners.

Courtesy of the American Homeowners Foundation and the American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance, www.AmericanHomeowners.org.

Real Estate Hot Topics

Profit Center: Real Estate Tips, Training & Events

RISMedia Solutions

RISMedia on the Go

Today's Featured Listing