Remodeling Market Poised for Growth, NAHB Finds

(Illustration: Ivan Samkov/pexels.com)

Aging housing stock and insufficient new home inventory mean the remodeling market is poised for future growth, the National Association of Home Builders reported.

The organization examined recent data from the American Community Survey to find that nearly half of the owner-occupied homes in the U.S. were built before 1980. Their median age exceeds 40 years, up from 31 years in 2005.

“The aging housing stock continues to drive remodeling projects as homeowners are increasingly choosing to tap into their home equity and invest in improvements rather than relocate,” said Nicole Goolsby Morrison, a remodeler from Raleigh, N.C. She noted NAHB forecasts residential remodeling activity will post a 5% gain in 2025 and a nominal gain of 3% in 2026.

From 2020 to 2023, new construction added nearly 2.6 million owner-occupied homes, accounting for only 3% of total owner-occupied housing stock, NAHB said. Relatively newer homes built between 2010 and 2019 took up around 9% of the stock, while homes constructed between 2000 and 2009 made up 15%. In contrast, 35% of owner-occupied homes were built before 1970.

The share of relatively new owner-occupied homes built within the past 13 years has declined greatly, from 18% in 2013 to only 12% in 2023. Meanwhile, the share of older homes that are at least 44 years old has increased significantly, rising from 39% in 2013 to 48% in 2023, NAHB said.