Experts at a press conference hosted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Remodelers during the International Building Show (IBS) report that residential remodeling will continue its gradual climb in 2014. A recent NAHB survey’s results describe the changes the remodeling market has undergone in recent years, such as the growth in whole home remodels after a drop in 2010.
“We are predicting slow and steady growth in remodeling activity throughout 2014 and into 2015,” said Paul Emrath, NAHB’s vice president for survey and housing policy research. “That outlook is consistent with the indicators of future activity in our recent survey. It’s a positive sign that whole house remodels have rebounded somewhat as home equity levels increased in 2013, though traditional bath and kitchen projects remain the most popular remodels.”
Kermit Baker, senior research fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies and project director of Remodeling Futures Program at Harvard University, also presented during the press conference. He is also predicting an increase in residential remodeling as homeowners’ confidence returns. Three key areas Baker predicts will see growth are green projects, reinvesting in multi-home structures and aging-in-place retrofits.
Three remodelers joined the discussion to speak to what trends they are seeing in the remodeling market. Paul Sullivan of The Sullivan Company in Newton, Mass., Dan Bawden of Legal Eagle Contractors Company in Bellaire, Texas, and Steve Heiteen of Portland Remodel in Portland, Ore., echoed many of the things that Emrath and Baker forecast. Sullivan spoke to larger remodeling jobs being on the rise in his area as well as returning home owner confidence with the number of purchases and remodels of second homes he has experienced in his area. Boden commented on the increase of aging-in-place his company now completes for the Baby Boomer generation, which puts his universal design training to use with more frequency than his green building training. Heisten has seen the return of bank financing for some projects in his area, which had halted, for the most part, during the recession.
More on the press conference can be found here.