Home lmprovement markei

in interest rates and a slowdown in the rise of construction material prices. They add that improved home sales are a stimulus to home improvement because sellers often improve homes to attract buyers and buyers frequently fix up homes soon after moving in. Single family houses, according to their figures, are responsible for about two-thirds of all residential maintenance expenditures and about 8090 of the alterations and addition expenditures.

David Brayton, executive producer of "The Do-It-Yourself Show," a PBS series on home improvement, claims that "more than 75qo of all American households are involved in do-it-yourself projects. " This, coupled with statistics of 4O million owneroccupied homes in the U.S. 20 years old or older, represents a lot of home improvement.

Story at a Glance

Home improvement market aims for $67.5 billion this year . . .R & R to rise by 14o/o.. .more than 757o ol homeowners involved in d-i-y. . .individual products keep pace with total growth.

Joseph L. Jones, chairman and president of Armstrong World Industries, emphasizes the opportunities in home improvement and repairs. "This overall market," he said, "is expected to grow, in constant dollars, at a rate of 6 to 790 annually between now and 1990. That's roughly half again the real growth expected in the U.S. economy as a whole, and the doit-yourself portion of this market has been growing and will continue to grow even faster."

Individual categories of home improvement materials will rise with the total home improvement market, according to Frost & Sullivan. They predict that over 5090 of the growth will be accounted for by dimension lumber, builders hardware, paint, electrical supplies, hand tools, millwork and softwood plywood. They also list laminated plastics, kitchen cabinets, paneling and hardboard as fast growing markets.

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*Totals may differ from the net because of multiple answers From "A study