Homeowners will spend nearly $233 billion on home remodeling
this year, according to the National Association of Home Builders, marking a
1.9 percent increase in spending over a record $228 billion set last year.
However, the group also noted that remodeling activity fell in the first
quarter of 2007, showing a dip of 46.1 from 48.2 on the NAHB Remodeling Market
Index.
The RMI
measures the remodeling industry’s perception of market demand for current and
future residential remodeling projects. A score of 50 is considered the
dividing line between a growing and contracting market, according to the group.
NAHB
remodelers chairman Mike Nagel noted that despite the slowdown, remodeling activity
remained “fairly steady.”
“A
significant part of the remodeling market comes from work that homeowners
cannot delay – like replacing a roof – keeping the industry relatively stable
during housing market downswings,” he noted.
Regionally, the Midwest showed
comparatively strong index readings in the first quarter, jumping to 47.5 from
44.4 with future expectations rising to 44.7 from 35.7. Other areas of the
country reported declining RMI readings and decreased future expectation
indexes. Conditions in the Northeast fell from 45.7 to 43.4 and future
expectations dropped from 50.1 to 44.3. In the South, current conditions fell
from 52.8 to 45.9 and future expectations inched down from 51.1 to 50.7. In the
West, conditions dropped from 52.4 to 48.2 and future expectations fell from
51.3 to 45.0.
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