Home remodeling and repair spending is expected to see sustained momentum in 2017, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) recently released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The LIRA projects that spending levels will end the year up 6.7 percent at $317 billion, slightly lower than the 6.9 percent growth estimated for 2016.

“Growth in home prices is continuing at a healthy pace and encouraging homeowners to make remodeling investments,” says Chris Herbert, managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies. “Home sales are remaining on an upward trajectory, as well, and this coupled with continued growth in remodeling permit activity suggests another strong year for home improvements.”

Some door and window dealers are expanding their operations in response to higher remodeling activity. For example, Lifetime Windows & Doors of Denver, Colo., recently expanded to Phoenix, Ariz., which Realtor.com recently predicted will be the No. 1 housing market in the U.S. in 2017.

“We felt that expanding to Phoenix would be the next logical step,” said Peter Svedin, CEO and co-founder of Lifetime Windows & Doors.

Homeowners appear to be embracing remodeling in a big way, says Brad Hunter, the chief economist for HomeAdvisor.

“The growth rate in home improvement spending has been outpacing the growth in overall consumer spending by a margin of nearly two-to-one, and the trend will likely continue this year,”  he wrote in a recent blog post. “The rise in home values has boosted people’s perception of their own financial well-being, and has also increased their ability to take out home-equity-based loans if they need them for home improvement projects.”