Remodelers in the Know: Summer 2026 Industry Trends
Stay on top of industry news, current trends and material cost changes with Clear Estimates' Remodelers in the Know news bulletin! Each quarter, Clear Estimates summarizes industry news and updates, along with our current material cost data analysis, together in this free & convenient quarterly digest. In this edition we look at the remodeling industry outlook in the third quarter of 2026.
Remodeling Boosts Private Residential Construction Spending
Private residential construction spending rose for a third straight month in May, up 0.3% from April and 1.8% year-over-year. Remodel spending did most of the heavy lifting.
Remodeling and home improvement spending increased 0.9% month-over-month and 8.1% year-over-year, even as new single family construction fell. Multifamily activity stayed flat. Some industry experts see the ongoing decrease in new single family building as an early signal of pressure on affordability.
Read the full article from National Mortgage News here.
Source: National Mortgage News
The Demographics Driving Today's Renovation Market
With mortgage rates elevated and housing inventory tight, more homeowners are choosing to remodel instead of move. NAHB estimates $670 billion was spent on remodeling in 2024 alone, accounting for roughly 20 million households.
Married couple households continue to drive the bulk of remodeling activity and spending. Families with children 6–17 stood out for bigger ticket projects like additions, finished basements, and kitchen upgrades. Together these projects averaged over $43,000 in spend. Baby Boomers account for the largest overall share of spending, while Millennials spend the most per household (often on additions and other long term upgrades tied to growing families).
Income made a clear difference as well. Households earning more than $200,000 were three times as likely to remodel as those earning under $50k, spending about $61,000 on average.
Read the full article from Hardware Retailing here.
Source: Hardware Retailing
Remodeling Market Index Holds Solid at 62, Reports NAHB
The NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index came in at 62 for the 1st quarter of 2026, down two points from the previous quarter. Still, readings above 50 mean more remodelers view conditions favorably.
Current conditions average at 70, with smaller project spending ticking upwards. Larger project spending eased slightly. The forward looking Future Indicators Index slipped to 54, as both lead volume and project backlogs soften.
NAHB's chief economist pointed to aging housing stock and rate lock-in as tailwinds for remodeling demand, noting that a meaningful share of this quarter's projects came from buyers improving homes shortly after purchase.
See the full article from Woodworking Network here.
Source: Woodworking Network
Clear Estimates Quarterly Material Pricing Trends - July 2026
This quarter brought in a wide regional spread, with costs climbing sharply in the Northeast while staying relatively mild in the West.
The cost of a 200 sq. ft. kitchen remodel increased across every region, ranging from +0.7% in the West to +5.1% in the Northeast. An 800 sq. ft. home addition followed a similar pattern, rising between +0.4% and +3.3%, with the Northeast again showing the largest gains.
A deeper look at material categories shows continued variability across key materials:
- Roofing: Fiberglass and asphalt roofing costs continued to climb, with double-digit increases in every region except the West.
- Plywood: Prices moved higher nationwide, with parts of the Northeast seeing increases over 15%, while the West saw just a 4% rise.
- Wall studs: Held steady or declined, down about 2% on average nationally.
- Drywall: Pricing was mixed - up 7% nationally, but saw a 4% drop across much of the Midwest.
- Dimensional lumber: Showed the widest regional swings - surging in the Northeast, while much of the Midwest saw declines.
What This Means for Contractors
Sharp regional divergence, especially in the Northeast, makes local pricing more important than ever for protecting margins.
Roofing, drywall, and lumber costs remain volatile enough to swing project totals if not tracked closely.
Contractors using Clear Estimates can catch these regional shifts automatically and bid with more confidence heading into the second half of the year.
This information is sourced from Clear Estimates' Q3 2026 Quarterly Behavior Index.
Clear Estimates draws on a wide range of data sources to provide accurate & reliable material & labor costs, covering all 50 States. This makes it easy for remodelers to estimate their jobs accurately and in a fraction of the time.
Each quarter Clear Estimates publishes our Quarterly Behavior Index, where we examine material cost trends per region across the US.
See the current Quarterly Behavior Index here!
Source: Clear Estimates
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