National spending for improvements and repairs on owner-occupied homes is expected to rise only modestly this year, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The LIRA projects that home remodeling expenditures will increase by just 1.5 percent in 2020 compared with annual gains of 5–7 percent in recent years.

“While homebuilding and sales activity are now firming, softness from earlier last year will continue to pull on remodeling spending growth in 2020,” says Chris Herbert, managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies. “However, the slowdown should begin to moderate by year-end as today’s healthier housing market indicators will ultimately lead to more home renovation and repair.”

“A 2020 growth projection of less than 2 percent is certainly lackluster for the remodeling market, especially given historical average annual growth of about 5 percent,” says Abbe Will, Associate Project Director in the Remodeling Futures Program at the Center. “Even so, homeowner improvement and repair expenditures are still set to expand this year to over $330 billion.”

For more information, visit https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/research-areas/remodeling/lira