Home improvement spending is expected to remain positive through early 2027, but growth is expected to slow to below overall inflation, according to new data from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Research.
Home improvement spending is expected to remain positive through early 2027, but growth is expected to slow to below overall inflation, according to new data from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Research.
The Collaborative Center’s Leading Indicators of Renovation Activity (LIRA) predicts that home improvement and repair spending will increase by 0.5 percent year over year through the first quarter of 2027. Total improvement and repair spending is expected to reach $523 billion, up from $521 billion in the first quarter of 2026.
“Growth in retail spending on home improvement permits and building products has leveled off recently, indicating that interest in home improvement is stagnant,” said Rachel Bogardus Drew, director of the center’s Home Improvement Futures Program.
The centre’s managing director, Chris Herbert, links the economic slowdown to broader housing market conditions. “Absent a sustained recovery in the construction industry, renovation spending is likely to remain in this low growth range for the foreseeable future,” Herbert said.
LIRA tracks home improvement and owner-occupied home repair spending across the country. Annual spending growth peaked at 11.9 percent in Q2 2023, then declined and bottomed out at -2.7 percent in Q3 2024. Growth turned positive again in the second quarter of 2025.
The next LIRA release is scheduled for July 23, 2026.
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