THE NUMBERS Home improvement

From a study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University:
More than 26 million homeowners undertook 44 million home improvement projects in 1999. "After factoring in expenditures for more routine maintenance and repairs, as well as spending by owners of rental properties, total spending now approaches $180 billion a year," according to the center.Many people launch a home improvement project in the first two years after they buy a house. "Trade-up buyers in particular are apt to make major modifications," the center said.Households that add a spouse, a child or a parent are more likely than others to make improvements. "Even though houses that are increasing in size might be expected to have less discretionary income," the center said, "they are much more likely than other households to undertake projects that increase or reconfigure the living space within the home."One reason Americans do so much remodeling is that they have the money. "Even after adjusting for inflation, average household income is 150 percent higher today than in 1940," the center said.The housing stock in the United States will reach 140 million units in the next decade, the center predicted, and "expenditures on remodeling should rival -- and perhaps surpass -- those on home building."Although do-it-yourself work is a key part of the home improvement market, that share of home improvement spending has declined in the last 15 years, the center said. "Rising incomes; the growing share of two-worker, single-person and empty-nester households; and the overall aging of the population are all thought to be responsible for this long-term decline."
Source: Scripps Howard