CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–Credit unions may want to dust off their home equity-related promotions. According to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing, growth in home improvement and repair expenditures will reach 8% by the start of 2017, which is considerably above its 4.9% historical average.
"By the middle of next year, the national remodeling market should be very close to a full recovery from its worst downturn on record," said Abbe Will, research analyst in the remodeling futures program at the Joint Center, in a released statement. "Annual spending is set to reach $321 billion by then, which after adjusting for inflation is just shy of the previous peak set in 2006 before the housing crash."
Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing noted that the increased home equity is coming about at the same time mortgage rates have again declined to near record lows. Data from Black Knight Financial Services show that during Q1, U.S. homeowners gained a collective $260 billion in additional home equity. An estimated 38-million borrowers now have at least 20% equity in their homes, the company reported.