Report: Pandemic Expected to Shrink 2020 Remodeling Spending in Majority of Top Metros

According to the Harvard Joint Center of Housing Studies, expenditures for “home improvements to the owner-occupied housing stock are anticipated to decline in most of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas this year in response to the severe economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new projections released today by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.”

It was also noted that even “before the pandemic hit, nearly all of the 47 tracked metros were expected to see slowdowns in improvement spending through 2020 as generated by the Center’s standard methodology projections, with growth of 1-5 percent expected in 37 metros and declines in only 9 metros. Revising these projections based on the estimated effect of the pandemic on national remodeling spending, the COVID-adjusted projections show annual homeowner remodeling spending will likely contract in the majority of metros (24), while only 15 could still see gains (1-3 percent), relative to 2019 activity.”

The full report can be read here.