JCHS: Metro home improvement spending expected to surge

Home improvement spending could see sizeable increases in metro markets this year.

The  Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University reported today that it projects 2022 to show a robust average annual growth in home improvement spending of 13.8% across all 48 major metropolitan areas tracked.

Additionally, owner expenditures are expected to grow between 7.6% and 23% with 20 markets expected to see above-average growth of 14% or better. Another six markets could see spending grow by 17% this year with all but one of the metros tracking for higher growth in comparison to 2021 estimates.

“Record-breaking home price appreciation, solid home sales, and high incomes are all contributing to stronger remodeling activity in our nation’s major metros, especially in the South and West,” said Sophia Wedeen, a research assistant in the Remodeling Futures Program at the Center. 

The largest gains in home improvement spending this year are projected to occur in Tucson (23%), Riverside (21.9%), Phoenix (20.3%), Austin (19.2%), San Antonio (19.1%), and Las Vegas (17.5%).

“Although home remodeling is expected to accelerate broadly across top metros, ongoing shortages and rising costs of labor and building materials may dampen activity in the coming year,” noted Carlos Martín, project director of the Remodeling Futures Program. “There will be shifts in local supply chains and the remodeling workforce as regional economies pull out of the pandemic, and as homeowner needs and activities change.”

The JCHS noted that due to data discontinuation, the 2022 metro projections substituted total existing home sales for existing single-family home sales as a model input.