According to the quarterly Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) released by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS), the home remodeling market is predicted to pick up steadily throughout the rest of the year. Although residential remodeling didn’t suffer as much as new construction throughout the downturn, it fell considerably in 2009 and has shown only minor up and down fluctuations over the past two years. LIRA analysts predict that trend to change throughout the remainder of this year with an expected 5.9 percent increase for the fourth quarter of 2012.Eric S. Belsky, managing director of JCHS, credits the improvement to stronger home sales and continued low interest rates. Belsky also remains optimistic about future LIRA forecasts. “Hopefully,” he says in the report, “we’re finally moving beyond simple volatility in the home improvement spending numbers to a period of sustained growth.”
