U.S. Spend On Home Improvement To Remain Strong

The pandemic caused U.S. homeowners to focus attention on their living spaces as never before, lifting the U.S. remodeling market to an unprecedented height of $567 billion in 2022. However, this spending trend may not be completely over as aging housing stock will require maintenance and upgrades which will improve renovation spend in 2023, says a report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. ‘Improving America's Housing 2023’ says despite the enormous boom in remodeling activity, the nation’s homes are older today than at any time ever recorded and in growing need of critical replacements and maintenance. Greater investment is also needed to better prepare against disasters, improve energy efficiency, and meet the accessibility needs of an aging population. With the aging of the housing stock, spending will likely continue on energy-related improvements such as roofing, HVAC, and windows and doors. As well, the rising number and severity of climate-related disasters is increasing home restoration spending. In addition to these factors, most homes lack features that make them accessible for people with limited mobility. Nearly two million homeowners age 55 and over pursued projects for accessibility in 2020 and 2021, but many more will need to make these modifications as the number of older adults and multigenerational households increase in the coming decades. Although home remodeling faces many headwinds in the near term, including rising interest rates, declining home sales, and labour and material supply constraints, the current market is more reliant on need-to-do projects than during the boom of the mid-2000s. Increasing investments that address the full range of home performance deficiencies should support longer-term growth in home improvement and repair spending.