Modest Growth Predicted for U.S. Remodeling Industry in 2015

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According to industry experts at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Remodelers at the International Builders' Show (IBS) in Las Vegas this week, residential remodeling is set for modest growth in 2015. Remodelers appearing on the panel agreed with the forecast, citing home owners' changing demographics and increased financial security.

NAHB projects that residential remodeling spending on owner-occupied single-family homes will increase a modest 3 percent in 2015 over 2014, and another 1.5 percent in 2016.

"Remodelers are responding to calls from home owners on steadier financial footing than recent years," said 2015 NAHB Remodelers Chairman Robert Criner, GMR, GMB, CAPS, CGP, a remodeler from Newport News, Va. "From major kitchen remodels and bath facelifts to room additions, the members of NAHB Remodelers look forward to providing professional remodeling services in 2015."

"Among our clientele, a demographic shift towards remodeling urban homes is taking place," said Mike Nagel, CGR, CAPS, a remodeler from Chicago. "Our recent jobs tend to be in the city and the projects have increased in size."

"Existing homes sales and house prices both hit soft spots in 2014 that dealt a glancing blow to residential remodeling businesses," said Paul Emrath, NAHB's vice president for survey and housing policy research. "We expect those drags are behind us in 2015, an outlook consistent with the optimism expressed by remodeler members in our recent Remodeling Market Index (RMI) survey."