Analysis of the American Housing Survey

Pub­lish Date: 7/9/2025

The Home Improve­ment Research Insti­tute (HIRI) part­nered with The Farnsworth Group to present a detailed look at evolv­ing home improve­ment trends across the U.S. hous­ing mar­ket. Draw­ing from the rich data col­lect­ed through the Amer­i­can Hous­ing Sur­vey (AHS), a nation­al­ly rep­re­sen­ta­tive sur­vey con­duct­ed by the U.S. Cen­sus Bureau and spon­sored by the Depart­ment of Hous­ing and Urban Devel­op­ment, this joint study pro­vides a clos­er exam­i­na­tion of home­own­er behav­ior, spend­ing pat­terns, and project types.

This col­lab­o­ra­tive research effort offers valu­able insights into how demo­graph­ic, eco­nom­ic, and hous­ing mar­ket fac­tors influ­ence the fre­quen­cy, types, and financ­ing of remod­el­ing projects among U.S. home­own­ers. The find­ings help indus­try pro­fes­sion­als, pol­i­cy­mak­ers, and mar­keters tai­lor strate­gies to bet­ter meet the needs of today’s homeowners.

Research Objec­tives:

• Ana­lyze the fre­quen­cy, types, and aver­age spend­ing of home improve­ment projects among U.S. home­own­ers, seg­ment­ed by demo­graph­ic fac­tors such as income, age, and fam­i­ly size.
• Assess the rela­tion­ship between the age and con­di­tion of hous­ing stock and the scope and nature of home improve­ment activities.
• Inves­ti­gate the rela­tion­ship between home improve­ment activ­i­ties and hous­ing mar­ket con­di­tions, includ­ing home val­ue appre­ci­a­tion and resale activ­i­ty across dif­fer­ent U.S. regions.
• Exam­ine the financ­ing meth­ods uti­lized by home­own­ers for fund­ing home improve­ment projects.