Confidence among home improvement contractors remains resilient and optimistic for 2026. Data from the Q4 Contractor Activity Tracker, released by The Farnsworth Group and Home Improvement Research Institute surveyed five categories of residential contractors. These include remodel, exterior, mechanical, finish and landscaping. Their outlook for the new year is for continual business and steady increases in revenue. Over half of respondents indicated that they had a year over year increase in 2025.
Remodelers in particular remain optimistic, with 39% indicating their company grew in the last 3 months. Despite labor shortages, they also indicate confidence that their companies will have enough workers in the new year.
“There’s some different dynamics happening in those two sectors that lead the existing home contractor to be a little bit more optimistic and a little bit more confident in their ability to get business,” said Farnsworth in a recent interview. “The homeowner can tap into some equity and maybe have more desire to work on their home than they do to go buy a new one.”
