Remodeling Expected to Continue Slow but Steady Growth

The Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) predicts that remodeling and repair spending will start 2026 at a growth rate of 2.4% in Q1 but will ease to 1.9% through the end of Q3 2026 to $517 billion, according to the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Remodeling and repair spending in the third quarter of 2025 rose 1.8% over the same period in 2024 to $507 billion. An increase in remodeling permits and sales of homes needing improvements, along with slow housing starts, is expected to fuel the steady growth.

The LIRA, published quarterly, provides a short-term outlook on U.S. home improvement and repair spending for owner-occupied homes. The report is designed to project an annual rate of change in expenditures for the current and subsequent four quarters. See 

SOURCE: Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies