The Remodeling Boom: NAHB's Mid-Year Housing Market Outlook

Remodeling is about to become more than half of all residential construction in America — and NAHB Chief Economist Dr. Robert Dietz has the data behind it. In this mid-year housing market outlook, Dr. Dietz breaks down the forces powering renovation's rise from a third of construction activity in 2007 to 45% today: more than $35 trillion in homeowner equity, a housing stock averaging over 40 years old, and a mortgage rate lock-in effect keeping homeowners in place and reinvesting in the homes they have. Construction lenders will find a practical map of where renovation lending demand is growing — including the fastest-growing remodeling markets in the Northeast and Midwest — plus the rise of teardown construction, the outlook for HELOC and renovation loan demand as rates fall, the risks that could slow the boom, and a first look at NAHB's new quarterly state-level remodeling estimates.