“Spending growth is projected to be particularly strong in many of the nation’s more affordable markets,” says Chris Herbert, managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies. “At the same time, there are a few high cost markets where low housing supply is spurring the renovation of existing homes.”
According to Elizabeth La Jeunesse, senior research analyst in the Center’s Remodeling Futures Program, “Our projections show that growth in the remodeling market is not concentrated in just one area of the country but is widespread. Average growth through 2018 in major metros of the South, West, and Midwest is projected to be close to the 50-metro average of 7.4%, while growth in metros of the Northeast will be slightly lower (5.6%).”
The Joint Center for Housing Studies’ annual Metro Area Home Improvement Projections will be released annually in the spring and will provide a short-term outlook of home improvement spending to owner-occupied homes across 50 major metropolitan areas. The indicator, developed from biennial estimates from the American Housing Survey 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 industry.
For more information, visit www.jchs.harvard.edu.
