Record-low interest rates and an upward trend in construction spending and new-home starts are boding well for residential remodeling and home improvement activity. And the third-quarter projections from the Leading Index for Remodeling Activity at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) indicate that the trend will continue into the second quarter of 2013.
By that point, homeowner spending in the remodeling sector will be on track to grow 16.6% in 2013 to total $134.2 billion, JCHS said. A year earlier, the index was predicting a 2.1% dip in the 2012 growth rate, with annual spending of $115.1 billion.
