Pandemic exacerbates home spending slowdowns
Home improvement spending in owner-occupied homes is expected to see a decline in most of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) at Harvard University reported its latest projections today.
Even before the pandemic, nearly all of the 47 tracked metro markets were expected to see slowdowns in improvement spending through 2020 as generated by the JCHS’s standard methodology projections.
Original projections placed growth at 1% to 5% in 37 markets with declines in the remaining 9 markets tracked by the JCHS.
Now the JCHS predicts remodeling spending to decrease in 24 markets with only 15 seeing a gain of 1% to 3% in comparison to 2019 activity.
“With the pandemic exacerbating localized slowdowns in house prices, existing-home sales, and homebuilding, many metros will see even more pronounced erosion of home renovation activity this year,” said Abbe Will, associate project director in the Remodeling Futures Program at the JCHS. “The largest remodeling spending declines are not isolated to any one region, but are projected to occur in markets throughout the country including Orlando, Kansas City, Omaha, San Jose, and Portland.”
Earlier this month the JCHS also reported a decrease through the first quarter of 2021, according to the latest Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA).
Click image to visit interactive map.
Sophia Wedeen, a research assistant at the program, said affordable metro markets in the Midwest and Sunbelt “should be among the brighter spots for home improvements this year.” This translates into annual gains of about 2% to 3% in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Charlotte, Atlanta, Tampa and Phoenix.
But the JCHS also said that with the country still in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is “substantial uncertainty” about how long the economic downturn will last and how quickly a recovery will take hold.
“As more and more data become available, we will continue to provide insights and analysis for understanding the varied impacts of the pandemic on local and regional home improvement activity,” Will said.
Click here to see an interactive map from the JCHS that details projected remodeling spending across the nation.
The Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) at Harvard University reported its latest projections today.
Even before the pandemic, nearly all of the 47 tracked metro markets were expected to see slowdowns in improvement spending through 2020 as generated by the JCHS’s standard methodology projections.
Original projections placed growth at 1% to 5% in 37 markets with declines in the remaining 9 markets tracked by the JCHS.Now the JCHS predicts remodeling spending to decrease in 24 markets with only 15 seeing a gain of 1% to 3% in comparison to 2019 activity.
“With the pandemic exacerbating localized slowdowns in house prices, existing-home sales, and homebuilding, many metros will see even more pronounced erosion of home renovation activity this year,” said Abbe Will, associate project director in the Remodeling Futures Program at the JCHS. “The largest remodeling spending declines are not isolated to any one region, but are projected to occur in markets throughout the country including Orlando, Kansas City, Omaha, San Jose, and Portland.”
Earlier this month the JCHS also reported a decrease through the first quarter of 2021, according to the latest Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA).
Click image to visit interactive map.Sophia Wedeen, a research assistant at the program, said affordable metro markets in the Midwest and Sunbelt “should be among the brighter spots for home improvements this year.” This translates into annual gains of about 2% to 3% in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Charlotte, Atlanta, Tampa and Phoenix.
But the JCHS also said that with the country still in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is “substantial uncertainty” about how long the economic downturn will last and how quickly a recovery will take hold.
“As more and more data become available, we will continue to provide insights and analysis for understanding the varied impacts of the pandemic on local and regional home improvement activity,” Will said.
Click here to see an interactive map from the JCHS that details projected remodeling spending across the nation.