Home spend creeping up
Bank of America data flagged a roughly +4% year‑on‑year increase in consumer spending, and social commentary notes home‑improvement spend is improving month‑on‑month but still moving slowly. (x.com)
Americans did spend more in March, but the part tied to the house is still moving like a car in second gear, not a sprint. Bank of America said total credit and debit card spending per household rose 4.3% from a year earlier in March 2026, the strongest gain since early 2023. (bankofamerica.com) That 4.3% number looks hotter than the underlying picture because gasoline did a lot of the lifting. Bank of America said spending at gas stations jumped 16.5% from February to March, while total spending excluding gasoline still rose a slower 3.6% from a year earlier. (bankofamerica.com) Inside that March pickup, services did more work than hardware aisles. Bank of America said services contributed 1.9 percentage points to yearly spending growth, while retail excluding gas and restaurants contributed less than that. (bankofamerica.com) That helps explain why home-improvement chatter sounds better month to month than it feels on the ground. A lot of households are still paying for dinners, travel, and everyday bills, while the expensive kitchen, flooring, and deck jobs are waiting for a cleaner housing market. (bankofamerica.com) The housing market is only starting to unfreeze. The National Association of Realtors said existing-home sales rose 1.7% in February 2026 from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million, but sales were still down 1.4% from a year earlier. (nar.realtor) Mortgage rates are part of the drag. Freddie Mac said the average 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.46% on April 2, 2026, which is lower than 6.64% a year earlier but still high enough to keep many owners locked into older loans they do not want to give up. (freddiemac.com) When fewer people move, fewer people do the big “new house” projects that usually follow a sale. Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies said remodeling growth is expected to slow from 2.9% early in 2026 to 1.6% by the end of the year, even though total homeowner improvement spending could still reach $522 billion. (jchs.harvard.edu) Retailers are saying the same thing in plainer language. Lowe’s told investors on February 25, 2026 that the housing backdrop “remains pressured” and guided for comparable sales this year to range from flat to up 2%, which is growth, but not boom growth. (lowes.com) So the picture is not “consumer is weak” and it is not “housing is back.” It is “people are still spending, repairs and small refreshes are hanging in, and the bigger home projects are improving inch by inch as rates and home sales slowly loosen their grip.” (bankofamerica.com)
