Professionals in the residential landscape irrigation industry can leverage two key forward-looking indicators to anticipate market trends: single-family building permits and the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA). These metrics offer valuable insights into upcoming demand for irrigation services and products.
Single-family building permits, reported monthly by the U.S. Census Bureau, reflect the early stage of development for new homes. An uptick in these permits suggests a forthcoming increase in residential construction, which typically leads to heightened demand for landscape development, including irrigation systems. The most recent release is from April 17, 2025, and one can find useful graphs and time series for this data here. The U.S. Census Bureau data is updated monthly, with the next release scheduled for May 16, 2025.
The Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA), published quarterly by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, projects short-term trends in national home improvement and repair spending. This indicator helps identify future turning points in the remodeling market, which can signal increased opportunities for irrigation upgrades and retrofits in existing homes. The LIRA is released in the third week after each quarter’s closing. The most recent report published April 17, 2025 is titled Continued Gains Projected for Remodeling Amid Economic Uncertainty. While not reported separately in every quarterly report, the data includes outside property improvements such as landscaping or sprinkler systems. See the Improving America’s Housing 2025 report for details on data collection.
By monitoring these indicators, irrigation professionals can better align their business strategies with anticipated market demands, ensuring they are prepared to meet the needs of both new construction and remodeling projects.
