Home Improvement Spending Expected to Slow Down by Mid-2014

The home remodeling market continues to grow, with strong gains predicted through the beginning of 2014, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) recently released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

While the report continues to project annual improvement spending increasing in the near term, a slowdown of this growth can be expected by the middle of 2014.

“The soft patch that homebuilding has seen in recent months, coupled with rising financing costs, is expected to be reflected as slower growth in home improvement spending beginning around the middle of next year,” says Eric S. Belsky, managing director of the Joint Center. “However, even with this projected tapering, remodeling activity should remain at healthy levels.”

“In the near term, homeowner spending on improvements is expected to see its strongest growth since the height of the housing boom,” says Kermit Baker, director of the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center. “Existing home sales are still growing at a double-digit pace, and rising house prices are helping homeowners rebuild equity lost during the housing crash.”