The Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) predicts that remodeling and repair spending will start 2026 at a growth rate of 2.9% in Q1 but will slide to 1.6% by the fourth quarter, totaling a projected $522 billion for the year, according to the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Remodeling and repair spending in the fourth quarter of 2025 rose 2.7% from Q4 2024 to $514 billion.
The LIRA, published quarterly, provides a short-term outlook on U.S. home improvement and repair spending for owner-occupied homes. The report is designed to project an annual rate of change in expenditures for the current and subsequent four quarters. See Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies