Globe: Home Improvement Spending On the Rise

Alex Romanowicz works on a door in Cambridge on a street with many home construction projects going on. Contractors have been seeing more business this year as consumers spend more on home remodeling and improvement projects.

Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff

Homeowners are finally getting around to those home remodeling projects they were forced to put off during the worst of the recession, according to The Boston Globe.

According to the Globes report, demand for home improvement projects is forcing companies like New England Design & Construction to put customers on a waiting list for at least three months.

The Globe reports:

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Spending on home remodeling, which peaked at about $145 billion in 2006, is on track to surpass that high by the end of the year, according to figures compiled by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

This growth has also meant more jobs for carpenters, painters, plumbers, electricians, and other construction workers. In Massachusetts, the increase in remodeling activity has contributed to a recovery in overall construction employment, which has gained about 18,000 jobs over the past four years, about half the number lost in the recession.

Another key factor motivating homeowners is the prospect of improving their propertys value. Median home prices in Massachusetts are up by nearly 20 percent since dropping in 2009, according data from the Warren Group.

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Globe: Home Improvement Spending On the Rise