As the housing market slows, homeowners are halting their plans to upgrade their home. The booming housing market had been making homeowners feel like investing their growing equity into sprucing up their homes. Remodeling activity climbed to a decade high of 7.7 percent this year, according to a new report from Harvard University’s Joint Center of Housing Studies. But it predicts a slowdown over the coming months as the overall housing market eases.
“Low for-sale inventories are presenting a headwind because home sales tend to spur investments in remodeling and repair both before a sale and in the years following,” says Chris Herbert, the Joint Center’s director. Herbert also points to rising interest rates that are making buying a home more challenging for many Americans. This increase in rates also has an impact on the cost of tapping into home equity lines when funding big remodeling projects.
Credit Suisse downgraded shares of home remodeler retailers’ stocks due to the slower growth in home prices and projections of a slowing remodeling business. “Home prices have been a key driver of big-ticket projects, supporting strong average ticket growth,” Credit Suisse analysts write.
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