Older homes tend to need work done on them. And thus, the latest data from the 2016 American Community Survey is a good sign remodelers will have lots of potential work in the future.
The median age of homes in the U.S. has risen to 37 years from 31 back in 2005, reports Na Zhao for the NAHB's Eye on Housing blog. She attributes this to relatively modest gains in residential construction over the past decade. Zhao adds:
This aging housing stock signals a growing remodeling market, as old structures normally need to add new amenities, or repair/replace old components. Rising home prices also encourage home owners to spend more on home improvement. Moreover, the number of owner households has been rising since the third quarter of 2016. This indicates a strong rising demand for new construction over the long run, as current owner-occupied housing stock is older.
New constructions added nearly 3 million units to the national stock from 2010 to 2016, accounting for only 4% of owner-occupied housing stock in 2016. Owner-occupied homes constructed between 2000 and 2009 make up 16% of the housing stock. But more than half of the owner-occupied homes were built before 1980, with around 38% built before 1970. Due to modest gains of housing construction, the share of new construction built within past 6 years declined greatly, from 11% in 2006 to only 4% in 2016. Meanwhile, the share of housing stock built 46 year ago or earlier increased significantly from 31% in 2006 to 38% in 2016.
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