The National Association of Home Builders is almost ready to send out the first mailing of the new Remodeling Market Index survey. Based on the well-established Building Market Index, the RMI focuses specifically on trends and issues among remodelers.
At this writing, the questionnaire was in its final stages of development. A draft has been sent to 200 remodelers and was distributed to participants at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies meeting March 20 for additional feedback before a final draft is developed.
Dean Innerarity, communications manager for the National Association of Home Builders Remodelors Council, said that the final version of the survey will be distributed to 20,000 additional remodelers this month.
NAHB’s Public Affairs Committee started discussing the possibility of an index for the remodeling industry two or three years ago. Dan Bawden of Legal Eagle Contractors (Houston) has been active in developing the index from the beginning. He believes it will provide valuable information to three key groups: remodelers, government and homeowners.
He had returned his own sample survey to NAHB just days before talking to Professional Remodeler. "It’s happening right now. We should have results from the first survey this summer."
One of the most complicated aspects of developing the survey was creating questions that would be relevant to remodelers who specialize in small jobs as well as those primarily involved in major projects, Bawden said.