Slide in home improvement spending to continue

After showing signs of recovery, spending on home improvements is expected to remain volatile and weak during the next several quarters, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity report released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

The LIRA is projecting that annual remodeling spending through the first quarter of 2012 will be down 4 percent. The Census Bureau’s improvements spending series, to which the LIRA is benchmarked, was recently revised downwards as well.

“The recent slowdown in the economy has caused home improvement spending to weaken again,” said Eric S. Belsky, the center’s managing director, in a statement. “Falling consumer confidence levels have undermined interest in discretionary remodeling projects.”

“What looked to be a promising upturn in home improvement spending earlier this year has begun to stall,” added Kermit Baker, the center’s director of the remodeling futures program. “Housing starts, existing home sales and house prices have all been disappointing lately, which has dimmed prospects for home improvement spending gains this year.”