BuildFax said that residential remodeling increased by 1 percent from November to December and was up 9 percent from a year earlier.  Permits for remodeling were issued in December at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2,937,000 compared to 2,900,000 the previous month and 2,704,000 in December of 2014.

Forward looking indicators of remodeling activity, both the Remodeling Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the LIRA Index of the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, have predicted that the recent boom in remodeling will continue well into 2014 although both have moderated the rate of increase from their earlier projections.

According to BuildFax the seasonally-adjusted annual rates of remodeling across the country in December 2013 are estimated as follows: Northeast, 570,000 (down 7% from November and down 27% from December 2012); South, 1,188,000 (up 1% from November and up 14% from December 2012); Midwest, 548,000 (down 10% from November and down 3% from December 2012); West, 837,000 (up 13% from November and up 16% from December 2012).

"Except for the Northeast, all regions (and the nation as a whole) saw increases in residential remodeling activity in 2013 over 2012" said Joe Emison, Chief Technology Officer at BuildFax.

The BuildFax Remodeling Index (BFRI) is based on construction permits for residential remodeling projects filed with local building departments across the country and currently covers over 60 percent of the U.S. commercial and residential building stock with over 6 billion data points.