How the Pandemic Will Affect the Remodeling Industry in 2020

After already expecting a decline in 2020, the remodeling industry is expected to take an even bigger hit this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Unemployment is sky high, businesses are shut down in much of the country, and many Americans are not expected to have a wealth of disposable income to finally design the kitchen of their dreams. Only 15 metro areas of the 47 areas tracked by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University expect a growth of 1-3 percent. This is compared to the 37 metro areas that were projected to have a 1-5 percent growth before the pandemic hit. See how each metro will fare with the Remodeling Futures Program’s interactive map. 

Expenditures for home improvements to the owner-occupied housing stock are anticipated to decline in most of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas this year in response to the severe economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new projections released today by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. 

Even before the pandemic hit, nearly all of the 47 tracked metros were expected to see slowdowns in improvement spending through 2020 as generated by the Center’s standard methodology projections, with growth of 1-5 percent expected in 37 metros and declines in only 9 metros. Revising these projections based on the estimated effect of the pandemic on national remodeling spending, the COVID-adjusted projections show annual homeowner remodeling spending will likely contract in the majority of metros (24), while only 15 could still see gains (1-3 percent), relative to 2019 activity.

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