Seemingly ever sector of the U.S. economy is evaluating how the current recession stands to affect their industry. Of course, virtually anything tied to the current U.S. housing market is in for a rough time, but within this economic sector, home improvement itself may weather the storm with relative ease. Consumer resources that gauge home improvement demand show that homeowners have largely maintained their necessity for home repairs and their appetite for home improvements. Meanwhile, the Home Improvement Research Institute has revised estimates for the Home Improvement Products Market to indicate a 0.7 percent drop in 2008 and a forecasted drop of 3.1 percent in 2009. The cumulative direction of these statistics shows that within the home improvement industry, manufacturers that rely on homeowners’ expenditures for home improvement materials are likely to be hit hardest.

Home Improvement and Remodeling DemandThe Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) at Harvard University has forecast that by the second quarter of next year remodeling expenditures will be down 12 percent. That said, the current home improvement and remodeling demand has shown remarkable resiliency to the economic recession thus far. ServiceMagic, the leading online resource connecting homeowners and home improvement contractors, has shown home improvement demand has risen nearly across the board. In the latter half of 2008, homeowners actively seeking contractors for home additions and remodels outpaced the previous year by more than 10 percent, roofing demand increased by 13 percent, and HVAC services increased by an eye-catching 51 percent.

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