COST OF HOME REPAIRS INCREASES BY 4.1% FROM Q1 2023
Slight Decline in Labor Costs Help Slow Overall Increase in Repairs
By Rick Sharga, CJ Patrick Company
The cost of home repairs and remodeling in the first quarter of 2024 continued to increase, rising by 0.59% from the prior quarter and just over 4% from the first quarter of 2023 according to the Q1 2024 Verisk Remodel Index. Costs once again set new highs for the past decade, rising over 61% from the first quarter of 2014.
The Verisk Remodel Index tracks costs on 31 different categories of home repair, comprising over 10,000 line items ranging from appliances to windows. Data are compiled monthly in over 430 local market areas across the country.
“Repair costs rose in each of the 31 categories of home repair that are included in our index, but the rate of increase continues to be slow down from the more rapid increases we had during and immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Greg Pyne, VP, Pricing for Verisk Property Estimating Solutions.
“Labor costs appear to be coming down slightly as well, which has an impact on the overall cost of home repairs.”
Quarterly costs rose in all 31 categories included in the report. The cost of framing was still slightly lower on an annual basis, and the only covered category that was not higher than in the first quarter of 2023. Framing was the only one of the six largest categories of expenditure to decline on an annual basis. The other four — cabinets, siding, paint, wood look flooring, and plumbing — all rose between 2.5% and 5.5% over the past 12 months.
The cost of exterior doors rose the most compared to the last quarter, increasing by over 3.7%. Only two other categories had a quarterly increase of at least 1% — tile flooring at 1.55%, and interior home painting at 1.03%.
East South Central Region Shows Highest Quarterly Increase
All regions again experienced cost increases both quarterly and annually, but all of the regions reported quarterly increases of less than 1%. The East South Central Region saw costs rise by 0.72% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, followed closely by the South Atlantic Region, where prices rose by 0.70%. The New England Region had the lowest quarterly increase at 0.51%, but the largest annual increase at 4.51%, slightly higher than the Middle Atlantic Region at 4.47% and the Mountain Region, where prices rose by 4.44%.
The index has risen by 65.88% since its inception in January 2013, and the Mountain Region continued to have the highest overall cost increases over the period covered by the index, rising 70.92 points since the first quarter of 2014. The Mountain Region also has the highest increases over the past decade, with costs increasing by 64.74% since the first quarter of 2014. The Pacific Region (63.83%) and New England Region (62.81%) are the only two other regions that surpassed the national average of a 60.72% cost increase over that 10-year span.
Northeastern States Have Both the Highest and Lowest Rates of Increase
Delaware had the highest quarterly rate of increase in the country at 1.43%, the only state to surpass a 1% increase for the reporting period. Tennessee (0.90%), Florida (0.87%) and Montana (0.87%) barely missed that threshold. Other states with relatively high rates of quarterly increases included:
» South Carolina (0.84%)
» Mississippi (0.82%)
» Michigan (0.79%)
» New York (0.77%)
» South Dakota (0.73%)
» Wisconsin (0.72%)
Rhode Island had the lowest rate of quarterly cost increases at 0.37%, followed by:
» Colorado (0.38%)
» Wyoming (0.38%)
» Alaska (0.41%)
» New Mexico (0.41%)
» West Virginia (0.42%)
» Oklahoma (0.42%)
» Nevada (0.42%)
» Washington DC (0.43%)
» North Dakota (0.44%)
For more information, please visit www.verisk.com or contact Rick Sharga at rick.sharga@cjpatrick.com.
Verisk is a leading strategic data analytics and technology partner to the global insurance industry. It empowers clients to strengthen operating efficiency, improve underwriting and claims outcomes, combat fraud and make informed decisions about global risks, including climate change, extreme events, ESG and political issues. Through advanced data analytics, software, scientific research and deep industry knowledge, Verisk helps build global resilience for individuals, communities and businesses. For more information, please visit www.verisk.com.
