Home Renovations Boomed
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their safety and comfort , but for the preservation of the country ’ s aging housing stock . “ Lower-income owners were more likely to have lost employment income due to the pandemic ,” said Abbe Will , Associate Project Director of the Remodeling Futures Program at the Center . “ If their finances do not improve enough to cover back mortgage payments and deferred maintenance , the alreadylarge disparity in housing conditions between lowest- and highest-income homeowners will only grow .”
The increasing incidence and severity of climate-related disasters in the US caused spending on disaster repairs to climb to 10 percent of homeowner improvement expenditures by 2019 , double its historical share and setting a new high of $ 26 billion . [ Interactive Chart ] Much of this spending was due to hurricanes and tornadoes with repairs heavily concentrated in the southern region of the US . Fully 41 percent of home improvement expenditures in Houston were for disaster repairs , pushing it to the third largest remodeling market in 2019 , behind New York and Los Angeles . A record-setting number of billion-dollar disasters in 2020 , along with a growing number of homes located in vulnerable areas , make it likely that spending on disaster-related repairs will continue to rise in the US .
While there are still large segments of the population who have not yet recovered from the steep economic recession caused by the pandemic , sustained growth in home remodeling is expected . “ In the short term , many homeowners who deferred projects — both large and small — in 2020 are expected to complete those renovations once the pandemic is over ,” said Baker . “ Additionally , there has been an upturn in homeownership as younger households look to purchase homes , the number of multigenerational households has been growing , and remote work has given people more locational flexibility and the desire to modify their homes .” All of these factors have boosted the home improvement market and may become lasting trends that , in turn , fuel remodeling activity in the US for years to come .
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