Annually, the Window and Door Manufacturers Association (WDMA) hosts a Technical & Manufacturing Conference that offers a unique convergence of industry expertise, professional networking and regulatory insight.
This year’s conference featured a curated program of panels, and sessions with expert speakers to discover strategies and best practices for a competitive advantage. The keynote session this year featured Abbe Will from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (JCHS) and her latest analysis on the outlook for US home remodeling.
Will’s analysis found compelling evidence based on extensive data and research to develop a forward-looking outlook for the upcoming years. According to the data, the United States housing markets continue to cool as higher costs weigh on both homeowners and renters. On the for-sale side, home sales and construction levels have declined while rental markets are experiencing sharply reduced rent growth and rising vacancy rates. Nevertheless, home prices and rents remain elevated from pre-pandemic levels, leaving millions struggling with housing cost burdens, priced out of homeownership or without shelter at all.
As the housing market evolves, it is essential to be up to date on the latest developments to properly understand what to expect in the upcoming months and years in the remodeling industry:
- Home remodeling spending has seen well-above average growth throughout the pandemic, and while many key drivers of remodeling activity are still growing, they are beginning to soften.
- The market continues to face headwinds from inflated costs of labor and materials, high-interest rates and costs of financing and declining home sales.
- Remodeling tends to follow housing market slowdowns, but remodeling downturns are typically shorter and less severe.
- Today’s more diverse market is better positioned to weather a softening and numerous tailwinds are expected to support continued gains including record levels of home equity, aging of the housing stock, and favorable demographics.
- Market growth is expected to slow in 2023, followed by modest contraction by early 2024.
- Opportunities for future expansion lie in retrofitting the housing stock for accessibility, energy efficiency and disaster mitigation.
- Recent movers spend about 30% more on home improvements than non-movers.
- Roughly 50% of cash-out refinancing is used for home improvements.
- Homeowners gained an average of nearly $125,000 in equity from 2019-2022.
In addition, Will presented the need to replace single-pane windows in the aging US housing stock. She estimated that nearly one-half of a billion windows in US homes are single-pane and prime candidates for replacement. Even in cold climates, over 20% of homes have mostly single-pane windows.
For more information, the entire library of the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University’s research is publicly available and free for download at www.jchs.harvard.edu.
Webinar: Understanding Window, Door & Skylight Certification
Understand the benefits of window, door and skylight certification and how certified products can enhance your projects.
Webinar: Understanding Window, Door & Skylight Certification
The Understanding Window, Door & Skylight Certification webinar is designed to help architects and remodelers understand the benefits of window, door and skylight certification and how certified products can enhance their projects.
