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Improvements Data No Longer Available07-14-08 | News

Improvements Data No Longer Available

More than $226 billion was spent on 2007 on home improvement and repair projects, according to the Commerce Department. With the release of 2007 data, the commerce department has ceased compiling and releasing this data.

The government will no longer issue data on expenditures for residential improvements and repairs, traditionally issued quarterly by the Commerce Department.

Michael Davis of the Construction Expenditures Branch, Manufacturing and Construction Division at the Commerce Department, said these reports will cease to exist due to a lack of funding.

?EUR??,,????'??There is no more funding,?EUR??,,????'?? he said of the reports, which have been made available by the government since the early 1960s. ?EUR??,,????'??We will try again in 2010 for funding.?EUR??,,????'??

The last report, which included the fourth quarter of 2007, gave figures for the entirety of 2007 and showed that expenditures for improvements and repairs of residential properties were down slightly from the 2006 estimate.

Expenditures for 2007 came in at an estimated $226.4 billion, down from the $228.2 billion spent in 2006. Improvements accounted for 75.8 percent of the 2007 estimate. The remaining 24.2 percent was spent on maintenance and repairs.

Under the Commerce Department?EUR??,,????'???s formula, more than $129 billion of the total expenditures in 2007 were for alterations to residential housing structures. An additional $12.29 billion was spent on additions to housing structures. A category classified as ?EUR??,,????'??other property improvements?EUR??,,????'?? saw $30.2 billion in expenditures in 2007.