Where Home Improvement Spending is on the Rise in the U.S.

Home improvement spending is growing across the country and is expected to accelerate further in many of the nation’s largest cities this year, according to a report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. Home improvement spending is expected to grow nearly 14% annually across all 48 major metro areas the report tracked. Owner expenditures are anticipated to increase between 7.6% and 23%, as well.

Several markets will see homeowner expenditures on home improvement grow by double-digit percentages—by 14% or greater. “Record-breaking home price appreciation, solid home sales, and high incomes are all contributing to stronger remodeling activity in our nation’s major metros, especially in the South and West,” Sophia Wedeen, a research assistant at the Center, writes in the report. “Although home remodeling is expected to accelerate broadly across top metros, ongoing shortages and rising costs of labor and building materials may dampen activity in the coming year.”

The following markets are seeing the biggest increases in spending on home improvement, according to the Center’s report.

• Tucson, Ariz.: 23% (annual change in spending)
• Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.: 21.9%
• Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.: 20.3%
• Austin-Round Rock, Texas: 19.2%
• San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas: 19.1%
• Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.: 17.5%
• Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, Calif.: 17.3%
• Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C.: 17.2%
• Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga.: 16.8%
• San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif.: 16.6%
• Salt Lake City: 16.5%
• Oklahoma City: 16.3%

(The above information is sourced from “Residential Remodeling in Top Metros to Accelerate in 2022,” Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, published Feb. 24, 2022, and “The 20 Hottest Markets for Remodeling in 2022,” Pro Remodeler, also published Feb. 24, 2022.)

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