LIRA projects drop in remodeling spending
It might not be a banner year for home improvement spending in 2019.
The Remodeling Future Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University reported that annual growth in the national market for home improvement and repair is expected to slow down by the end of the year, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA).
LIRA projects that gains in renovation and repair spending for owner-occupied homes will fall to 5.1% in 2019 compared to gains of 7.5% in 2018.
“Slowing house price appreciation, flat home sales activity, and rising mortgage interest rates are deflating owners’ interest in making major investments in home improvements this year,” Chris Herbert, managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies, said in a statement. “Continued slowdowns in homebuilding, sales of building materials, and remodeling permits all point to a more challenging environment for home remodeling in 2019.”
LIRA provides a short-term outlook of national home improvement and repair spending to owner-occupied homes. The indicator, measured as an annual rate-of-change of its components, is designed to project the annual rate of change in spending for the current quarter and subsequent four quarters, and is intended to help identify future turning points in the business cycle of the home improvement and repair industry.
“Despite the growing headwinds, improvement and repair spending is still set to expand this year to over $350 billion,” said Abbe Will, associate project director in the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center. “But after several years of stronger-than-average increases, the pace of growth in remodeling activity is expected to fall back to the market’s historical average annual gain of 5.2 percent.”
The Remodeling Future Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University reported that annual growth in the national market for home improvement and repair is expected to slow down by the end of the year, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA).
LIRA projects that gains in renovation and repair spending for owner-occupied homes will fall to 5.1% in 2019 compared to gains of 7.5% in 2018.
“Slowing house price appreciation, flat home sales activity, and rising mortgage interest rates are deflating owners’ interest in making major investments in home improvements this year,” Chris Herbert, managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies, said in a statement. “Continued slowdowns in homebuilding, sales of building materials, and remodeling permits all point to a more challenging environment for home remodeling in 2019.”
LIRA provides a short-term outlook of national home improvement and repair spending to owner-occupied homes. The indicator, measured as an annual rate-of-change of its components, is designed to project the annual rate of change in spending for the current quarter and subsequent four quarters, and is intended to help identify future turning points in the business cycle of the home improvement and repair industry.
“Despite the growing headwinds, improvement and repair spending is still set to expand this year to over $350 billion,” said Abbe Will, associate project director in the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center. “But after several years of stronger-than-average increases, the pace of growth in remodeling activity is expected to fall back to the market’s historical average annual gain of 5.2 percent.”