Cementing Our DIY Housing Relationship On The Floor

The Construction Materials Industry Is Being Forced To Go Local At Higher Costs
DIY Rehab Costs Skew To Lower-Income Homebuyers At A Higher Share Of Their Wages
The Combination Of Tariffs, Higher National Debt, And War Will Keep Rates Elevated

Today, there was a fascinating Wall Street Journal piece: America’s Biggest Cement Supplier Set to Make Its Market Debut [gift link]. It shows a way for the construction materials industry to dance around the Tariff Tantrums. Media attention is now being redirected to the war with Iran. The caldron of high mortgage rates, higher national debt, and a new war are all inflationary tendencies that remain part of the peak economic uncertainty narrative. Housing starts are at their lowest level in five years, and homebuilder confidence is at its lowest level in three years. Right or wrong, tariffs are meant to incentivize the local sourcing of materials. Regional sourcing, not the artisanal type used by do-it-yourselfers for home improvement projects, skews younger and less wealthy. Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) drove the data on the following NY Times infographic [gift link].

DIYers Are Cash Strapped And Younger

That New York Times article [gift link] makes the point that even though people who work on their homes are far less wealthy than those who use professional services, it’s a substantially higher portion of their income. Higher wage earners are more likely to live in newer or already improved homes.

Final Thoughts

I’m sitting in a hotel room in Detroit during the heat wave on a visit with my 95-year-old father-in-law, who still plays golf and has always been a construction DIYer. He now helps one of his sons paint and fix old houses, and they’re very good at it. As we move focus from tariffs to the war with Iran, mortgage rates remain “cemented” (sorry) at elevated levels, restraining home sales and making life more financially challenging for lower wage earners trying to DIY through a home rehab. It looks like higher interest rates are being cemented in place for the long term.

The Actual Final Thought – As a die-hard Pixies fan, I had to dig deep for a “cement” reference, but it was worth it. I found it on the “floor” in Cactus within the first sentence.