Remodeling Growth Forecasted to Continue Deep into 2022

The Remodeling Futures Program at The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University released on Thursday (10-21-21) their Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) Report. According to the LIRA, strong growth in home improvement and maintenance expenditures is expected to continue over the coming year.

The LIRA projects year-over-year gains in annual improvement and repair spending will reach 9% in Q4 of 2021 and maintain that pace into 2022.

In a statement prepared for the release of the LIRA, Carlos Martín, Project Director of the Remodeling Futures Program at the Center said, “Residential remodeling continues to benefit from a strong housing market with elevated home construction and sales activity and immense house price appreciation in markets across the country. The rapid expansion of owners’ equity is likely to fuel demand for more and larger remodeling projects into next year.”

Abbe Will, Associate Project Director of the Remodeling Futures Program added, “With these tailwinds, annual improvement and repair expenditures by homeowners could reach $400 billion by the third quarter of 2022. Yet there are several headwinds that could still taper the expected growth in remodeling spending including the rising costs of labor and building materials, as well as increasing interest rates.”