Arabic version: ارتفاع تكاليف الاقتراض يحدّ من خطط تجديد المنازل

According to Cnbc, homeowners holding mortgages with rates of 2% to 3% are increasingly staying in place as mortgage rates rose above 7.5% this week, their highest level in three years. But higher costs for home equity loans and home equity lines of credit, or HELOCs, are also limiting the ability of many owners to finance upgrades to the homes they keep.

Angi co-founder and chief customer officer Angie Hicks said homeowners are living in their houses about five years longer than they originally expected. The company’s data shows 60% of consumers are postponing projects and shifting spending toward maintenance. Homeowners are prioritizing needs such as furnace tune-ups and water heaters over larger discretionary work, including decks and kitchen remodels.

Retail data points to a broad pullback in bigger renovation purchases. Datavations said big-ticket renovation categories at Home Depot and Lowe’s declined between 10% and 28% from September 2025 through August 2026 compared with the prior year. Sales of shower stalls, kits and enclosures fell 21%, while bathtub sales declined 10%. Lower-cost pull-down kitchen faucets, which have an average sales price of about $147, were down about 3%.

Philip Odelfelt, chief executive of Datavations, said the pattern reflects homeowners deferring larger renovation projects rather than abandoning maintenance. Lowe’s CFO Brandon Sink also said affordability concerns were leading consumers to prioritize repair and maintenance spending and remain cautious about big-ticket discretionary projects.

Although homeowners originated nearly 20% more second mortgages or HELOCs in the second quarter than in the first quarter, experts said the funds may be used to manage household finances rather than pay for improvements. Mark Ratchford, a Tulane University business school professor, said consumers facing high borrowing costs are skipping cosmetic upgrades and doing only necessary work. Contractors warned that delays to unavoidable projects such as roofs, windows and HVAC replacements could leave homes more vulnerable to costly damage.