Study: Home-improvement spending to reach peak this quarter

The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University sees year-over-year growth in remodeling

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CAMBRIDGE -- National spending for home improvement is expected to reach its near-term peak in the current quarter, as the housing market's recover continues to slow, according to the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

"Stronger gains in remodeling activity are unlikely given the recent slowdowns we've seen in housing starts, sales, and house price gains," said Chris Herbert, acting managing director of the Joint Center, in a statement.

He added that while continued recovery in employment should "ultimately keep the market on an upward trajectory," remodeling is likely to see slower growth rates moving into 2015.

The Center, through its Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity index, predicts spending on remodeling will top out in the current quarter, at $143.6 billion, or about 7.9 percent higher than the total spent a year ago. That figure is expected to be matched in the first quarter of 2015 before slipping to $136.7 billion in next year's second quarter.

"Even though the housing market overall has been lackluster, many areas of the country remain economically healthy and remodeling contractor sentiment remains high," said Abbe Will, a research analyst in the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center.

The LIRA is designed to estimate national homeowner spending on improvements for the current quarter and subsequent three quarters.

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Study: Home-improvement spending to reach peak this quarter