The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has released its State Projections of Remodeling (SPR) for the first quarter of 2026. As a reminder, the SPR provides on a quarterly basis a state-level estimation of the market share and total dollar value of remodeling spending. The SPR is a statistical model designed to use national quarterly improvement spending data and estimate remodeling market share by state using multiple indicators and NAHB’s annual state remodeling forecast.
Q1 2026 Results
During the first quarter of 2026, remodeling spending at the national level came in at $274.7 billion on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR). Even though spending fell for the third consecutive quarter, remodeling spending has been larger than single-family construction spending for seven straight quarters and accounts for 37.7% of total private residential fixed investment.
California had the largest market share of remodeling spending at 8.0%, or $22.2 billion, followed closely by Texas (7.3%, or $20.2 billion). Florida is third at 5.5%, or $15.4 billion, with New York (4.0%, or $11.2 billion) and North Carolina (3.0%, or $8.4 billion) rounding out the top five.
The top three states (California, Texas, and Florida) account for over 20% of total remodeling spending for the quarter, or $57.8 billion. It is not unsurprising to see higher remodeling spending among more populated states since it has a high correlation value (r=0.97) when compared to 2025 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. The top ten list by market share demonstrates a fairly even split across Census regions: three each from the Northeast and South and two each from the Midwest and West.
When looking at the top ten states by the change in remodeling spending in Q1 2026 (on a four-quarter moving average basis or 4QMA), Michigan saw its volume increase by $637.6 million, followed by Virginia (up $421.9 million), North Carolina (up $323.6 million), and Alabama (up $311.9 million). Except for the Northeast, all regions were represented within the top ten by change in spending. All ten states experienced a growth rate of at least 2.9% year-over-year with two states being double-digit (Michigan and Mississippi). Nevertheless, there were ten states which experienced negative growth rates in Q1 2026 compared to only five states in the previous quarter. This slowdown is reflected in NAHB’s forecast which showcases flat inflation-adjusted spending for 2026.
To learn more about this resource and its methodology, please visit NAHB’s SPR web page.
2 Responses
I think the title reaches the wrong conclusion. California, Texas, and Florida may account for over 20% of total remodeling activity, but they contain about 28% of the U.S. population. So, based on population, the data actually suggest the opposite—that these three states have less remodeling activity than the remainder of the United States. A more accurate title would be something like: “On a Per-Capita Basis, California, Texas, and Florida Lag the Rest of the Country in Remodeling Activity.” That would be more reflective of the relative level of remodeling rather than emphasizing the remodeling volume of the three most populous states, and is somewhat surprising.
Thanks Craig. To be fair – the conclusion in the title is correct. But your point about proportions is something we are planning on examining further as more quarters of estimates for this index are published. The data thus far show that states with older housing stock are tending to grow faster – and of course those several of these three states would tend to have younger housing stock. Thanks.