The third-quarter release of the Remodeling Activity Indicator (RAI) reflects a slowdown in the home improvement industry.
According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University (JCHS), which issues the report, homeowners spent an estimated $160.5 billion on remodeling and repairs over the last four quarters. That's an increase of just 1.6% from a year ago.
This is the second consecutive quarter in which the RAI has shown only a modest gain, and digging a bit deeper into the numbers, it would appear that this data is slightly more worrisome than that from the previous release. The RAI takes a number of factors into account, and according to Kermit Baker, director of the Remodeling Futures Program at JCHS, those have shown a mix of positive and negative signs recently. “In the third quarter, however, all of the components of the RAI point to either slower growth or decline,” Baker said in a press release. “This suggests that the industry has not yet hit bottom, so we should see a further slowdown in the coming quarters.”
Source: Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University
