Home Improvement Spend To Slow

Annual gains in improvement and maintenance expenditures to owner-occupied homes are expected to decline sharply by the middle of next year, says the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The LIRA projects year-over-year growth in homeowner remodeling and repair spending to shrink from 16.1 per cent in 2022 to 6.5 per cent by the third quarter of 2023. “Housing and remodeling markets are undoubtedly slowing from the exceptionally high and unsustainable growth rates that followed in the wake of the pandemic-induced recession,” says Carlos Martín, project director of the Remodeling Futures Program at the Center. “Spending for home improvements will continue to face headwinds from declining home sales, rising interest rates, and the increasing costs of contractor labour and building materials.” However, the LIRA says that although remodeling market gains are expected to cool significantly next year, homeowners still have record levels of home equity to support financing of renovations.