Sunday, February 01, 2015

Instead of selling, homeowners are remodeling

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:
The home-improvement industry has fared much better than the broader housing market, according to a report Thursday from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

In fact, industry experts are predicting that 2015 could see record spending on home improvements.

After years of declining revenue, the industry is reinventing itself, said Kermit Baker, director of the joint center's Remodeling Futures Program. The industry "is finding new ways to address emerging growth markets and rebuild its workforce for an evolving customer base," he said.

The housing downturn contributed to strengthening the remodeling market, since many homeowners who would have moved to larger houses stayed put and improved instead.

Federal stimulus programs encouraged energy-efficient upgrades, and investors reinvested in rentals to attract tenants.

Spending on discretionary home improvement rose $6 billion between 2011 and 2013, the first increase since the downturn began in 2007, Baker said.

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