Homebuilding lags in US, remodel picks up slack

摘要

The U.S. home remodeling market expanded by more than 50 percent since the end of the Great Recession. Spending on improvements and repairs to both owner-occupied and rental properties hit a record of nearly $425 billion in 2017. As new construction struggles to meet the nation's growing housing needs, almost 80 percent of our 137 million homes are now at least 20 years old and 40 percent are at least 50 years old. The aging of the U.S. housing stock has been a boon to the home improvement industry, with spending on existing homes surpassing investment in homebuilding every year for more than a decade.