Report: Home-remodeling gains to slow late in '14

Carpenter Nick Rossi completes a door installation at a home in Watertown in this file photo. Spending on home remodeling is expected to continue to increase at double-digit percentage rates through the middle of next year, experts say. AP FILE PHOTO

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CAMBRIDGE -- The home-remodeling market's rapid growth is expected to taper during the second half of next year, according to a report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

Preliminary indications are that spending on home remodeling in the third quarter of this year totaled about $140 billion, up about 10 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA), released Thursday by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center.

Double-digit percentage gains are expected to continue through the second quarter of next year, before slowing, the report found.

"The soft patch that homebuilding has seen in recent months, coupled with rising financing costs, is expected to be reflected as slower growth in home-improvement spending beginning around the middle of next year," said Eric S. Belsky, managing director of the Joint Center, in a prepared statement. "However, even with this projected tapering, remodeling activity should remain at healthy levels."

The Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity is designed to estimate national homeowner spending on improvements for the current quarter and subsequent three quarters. It's intended to help identify future turning points in the business cycle of the home improvement industry.

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Report: Home-remodeling gains to slow late in '14