JCHS Report: Pandemic Has Been Boon to Home Improvement Spending

Remodeling activity shifted towards DIY projects in lower-cost metros in 2020, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

By Vincent Salandro

Source: JCHS tabulations of US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics and US Department of Commerce, Monthly Retail Trade Survey. Professional remodeling activity gradually recovered in 2020 from a pandemic-induced drop, while sales of home improvement products rebounded much more sharply.

The U.S. economy contracted in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but the home improvement industry remained a bright spot. According to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS), while the economy shrank by 3.5% in 2020, spending on home improvements and raptors grew more than 3% to nearly $420 billion.

Though many professional remodeling projects were halted in the early stages of the pandemic, DIY renovations surged. The flexibility afforded to some households with remote work also increased the demand for larger homes and yards in lower-cost and less dense areas of the country, according to the JCHS’s Improving America’s Housing 2021 report.