Hesitancy. Anxiety. Lack of confidence. These are commonly heard descriptions for today's housing market as well as today's homeowner and homebuyer. The word falling comes up quite a bit too -- falling stocks, falling demand, falling consumer spending. And the downward trend is not quite finished, with a 12% drop in home improvement spending predicted for the whole of 2009 as well.

At the same time experts are predicting a sooner-than-later ending to the downward trend. That's because as demand for and spending on home construction falters, so does the price of the work, complemented by a rise in competition between suppliers and contractors. That is resulting in more affordable options for homeowners eager to repair and upgrade their aging homes, if for no other reason than to increase value when the market rebounds.

The evidence is there. In a USA Today piece, several homeowners spoke proudly of cost savings today compared to even a few years ago. One homeowner testified to a 30% discount compared to estimates three years ago. Even contractors must admit it; one such remodeler in Maryland noted that home construction costs were down 15% on average over the last two years.

Unfortunately some contractors are being swept under this falling wave. But as sure as a wave will sweep people under it will certainly rise to sweep people up. Indeed we are already seeing a moderate rise in single-family home construction. Downturns such as we are currently experiencing often work to stabilize the industry, leveling it out from absurd highs brought on in large part by bankers' bad gambles.

This all facilitates a drop in home construction prices, which will likely continue to fall over the course of this year, hopefully leveling off for the most part in the next few years. This also spells out a great time to remodel for homeowners. In addition to falling home improvement pricing, you also have federal incentives to upgrade the home, including energy efficient mortgages (EEM) and energy efficiency tax credits.