PRESS RELEASE

CONTACT: Elizabeth England: (617) 495-7640

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Recent numbers provided more good news for remodeling expenditures, with homeowner expenditures rising by an estimated 6.6% over the past four quarters, and spending totaling $125.2 billion. "Notwithstanding uneven consumer confidence, homeowners continue to re-invest in their homes,” remarks Nicolas P. Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies. “Rising home prices encourage owners to maintain their homes in top condition.”

Kermit Baker, director of the Center’s Remodeling Futures Program, explains, “Favorable interest rates are still providing record levels of home sales. With spending levels accelerating, the prospects are improving for remodeling in the coming year.”

The RAI is regularly released by the Joint Center’s Remodeling Futures Program during the third week after each quarter’s closing—two quarters before the U.S. Commerce Department’s data on residential improvements and repairs is available—in order to provide industry with an accurate and timely reading of national remodeling activity levels. The next release date is January 15, 2004.

The Joint Center’s Policy Advisory Board and other industry sponsors support the Remodeling Futures Program. The development of the RAI is detailed in "Development of an Indicator for the Homeowner Improvement Market".

Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies is the nation’s leading center for information and research on housing in the United States. Established in 1959, the Joint Center is a collaborative unit affiliated with the Harvard Design School and the Kennedy School of Government. The Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies since 1998 is Nicolas P. Retsinas. For more information, the website is www.jchs.havard.edu.

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For more information about the Joint Center and its programs,
please call (617) 495-7908.