Looking for some good news in recent remodeling data

The Joint Center for Housing Studies released their Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity in January and, not surprisingly, the news wasn’t good. The Indicator points to a decline in remodeling activity through the third quarter of 2009.

But if we dig deep, we may find some positives. Prior to 2008, the LIRA was based on numbers from the US Census Bureau that included Maintenance and Repairs expenditures along with improvements such as additions and alterations. But the Census Bureau discontinued the Maintenance and Repairs Statistics which also meant that the Center for Housing had to re-benchmark their Indicator.

Looking at the Expenditures for Residential Improvements and Repairs by Property Type between 2003 and 2007 provided by the Census Bureau, it’s interesting to see that Maintenance and Repairs held steady or continued to increase over that 4 year period.

Unfortunately, the Census Bureau no longer tracks this information. If they did, I think they could find that Maintenance and Repairs continue to hold pretty steady. Why? Because people take care of their homes. The home is an investment and if a homeowner wants to get the money out of the home, it needs to be in good shape and well maintained. Sure, we all see homes that are in disrepair every day, but these are not the people we are looking for as our customers.

Here’s what you can do today. Travel through your target area. Make note of the subdivisions and areas where the homes are well-maintained. Get back to your office and devise a way to reach those homeowners.