Which markets had the highest demand for renovation loans?

Lenders may find outsized demand for renovation loans in the nation's smaller housing markets. 

Residents in states like New Hampshire and Rhode Island applied for more remodeling and home improvement loans per capita in 2024 than those in California and Texas, according to a National Association of Home Builders analysis. The trade group, analyzing the most recent Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data available, found higher demand for such lending in the Mountain and New England regions. 

The nationwide appetite for remodeling financing is up today due to factors including aging housing stock and a growing need for aging-in-place improvements, NAHB said. Homeowners are also sitting on massive amounts of home equity, which has soared in recent years. 

While the number of 2024 home improvement loan applications fell 3% from 2023, transaction volume was steady year-over-year at $144 billion. Californians led the nation that year with 120,167 of the approximately 1.2 million home renovation loan applications, with larger Eastern states making up the rest of the top five. 

Florida was second with 94,901 remodeling applications, followed by Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and North Carolina. 

Small markets, big demand for reno loans

The nation's smallest state, Rhode Island, had six home improvement loan applications per 1,000 residents, double the rate of California, NAHB reported. New England and Mountain states had the next-highest demand for renovation financing per capita, reporting 5.63 applications per 1,000 residents in New Hampshire. 

On a smaller scale, there were 30 counties in those regions that reported seven or more renovation loans per 1,000 people. The five counties with the highest demand were:

• Washington County, Wisconsin 
• Rich County, Utah
• Camas County, Idaho
• Boise County, Idaho
• Nantucket County, Massachusetts
  

Those counties, all of which are a fraction the size of Los Angeles, had demand for remodeling financing double than that of the nation's second-largest city. The nation's 10 most populous counties had an average of 2.6 loans per 1,000 homeowners.