Prices of goods for home repair rose 9.7% in the year to September 2026, the largest gain since November 2022

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 08:37:37 -0400

Producer prices for the goods that go into home repair and remodeling rose 9.7% in the year to September 2026, the largest gain on the year since November 2022. The Bureau of Labor Statistics index of net inputs to residential maintenance and repair, goods, reached 342.8 in September, a record for a series that starts in 1986. It rose 1.8% from August. BLS published the figures on October 15, and the September value is preliminary.

Within the index, the energy part rose 13.5% in the month, while goods other than food and energy rose 0.1%. The index measures the prices U.S. producers receive for what home repair work consumes, weighted by how much of each item the industry buys. BLS says its input indexes leave out labor and capital investment, so a contractor’s wages and equipment purchases sit outside it.

The repair and remodeling goods index set a record in September 2026

Producer Price Index, net inputs to residential maintenance and repair, goods, index June 1986 = 100, not seasonally adjusted, monthly since January 2019

June through September 2026 are preliminary and can still be revised. Source: api.bls.gov

The index rose in eight of the first nine months of 2026, falling only in June. Since December 2025 it is up 10.0%, and it stands 9.0% above its earlier high of 314.4 in June 2022. Its change on the year has risen from 1.6% in January to 9.7% in September.

Repair and remodeling goods index, the last 13 months. June through September 2026 are preliminary.
Month	Index (June 1986=100)	Change on month (%)	Change on year (%)	Status
2025-09	312.346	-0.1%	2.6%	Final
2025-10	311.797	-0.2%	2.0%	Final
2025-11	312.932	0.4%	2.6%	Final
2025-12	311.594	-0.4%	2.3%	Final
2026-01	314.255	0.9%	1.6%	Final
2026-02	317.766	1.1%	2.3%	Final
2026-03	323.498	1.8%	4.0%	Final
2026-04	327.551	1.3%	5.7%	Final
2026-05	334.445	2.1%	7.7%	Final
2026-06	331.403	-0.9%	6.6%	Preliminary
2026-07	333.219	0.5%	6.8%	Preliminary
2026-08	336.695	1.0%	7.7%	Preliminary
2026-09	342.798	1.8%	9.7%	Preliminary

Source: api.bls.gov

Parts of the index

BLS splits the repair inputs into parts, each indexed to December 2014 = 100. The goods index above includes an energy part and a part for goods less foods and energy. A separate index tracks the services that repair work buys.

The energy part rose to 229.3 in September, its highest level since June 2022, when it set the series high of 243.8. It was 82.3% above September 2025 and has more than doubled since December 2025. Its path through 2026 was uneven: it rose 30.6% in March, fell 10.8% in June, and rose 6.8% in August before the September jump.

Goods less foods and energy moved little in September. That index reached a record 160.6, up 0.1% on the month and 5.3% on the year.

Services rose 2.3% in September and 11.9% on the year. Within them, transportation and warehousing rose 3.8% in the month and 19.3% on the year. Trade services, which BLS prices as the margins wholesalers and retailers earn on what they sell, rose 3.0% in the month and 14.2% on the year. Other services rose 0.2%.

Producer price indexes for inputs to residential maintenance and repair, September 2026. Not seasonally adjusted; September is preliminary.
Part of the index	BLS series	Base	September 2025	August 2026	September 2026	Change on month (%)	Change on year (%)	Change since December 2025 (%)
All inputs, goods and services	WPUIP232100	Dec 2014=100	150.376	162.931	166.222	2.0%	10.5%	9.5%
Goods	WPUIP2321001	June 1986=100	312.346	336.695	342.798	1.8%	9.7%	10.0%
Energy	WPUIP23210012	Dec 2014=100	125.758	201.978	229.276	13.5%	82.3%	112.4%
Goods less foods and energy	WPUIP23210013	Dec 2014=100	152.547	160.380	160.605	0.1%	5.3%	4.7%
Services	WPUIP2321002	Dec 2014=100	156.039	170.577	174.551	2.3%	11.9%	9.2%
Trade services	WPUIP23210021	Dec 2014=100	163.722	181.439	186.938	3.0%	14.2%	10.4%
Transportation and warehousing	WPUIP23210022	Dec 2014=100	134.480	154.549	160.472	3.8%	19.3%	19.2%
Other services	WPUIP23210023	Dec 2014=100	140.054	144.329	144.579	0.2%	3.2%	3.1%

Source: api.bls.gov

Energy inputs to home repair more than doubled in 2026

Producer price indexes for inputs to residential maintenance and repair, index December 2014 = 100, not seasonally adjusted, monthly

June through September 2026 are preliminary. Source: api.bls.gov

The index of all inputs, goods and services together, rose 2.0% in September, its largest monthly gain since March 2022, and 10.5% on the year.

The BLS release for September gives context from the wider economy. Measured with seasonal adjustment, the agency reports that diesel fuel prices rose 21.0% and gasoline 20.3% in the month, and that truck transportation of freight also rose. The release does not break the repair index down by fuel.

Building materials

Among five building materials this site follows, steel mill products rose the most. Steel was up 2.2% in September and 27.6% on the year. Plywood rose 1.8% in the month and 12.6% on the year. Lumber fell 1.4% in September and was 8.7% higher than a year earlier. Gypsum products, used in drywall, rose 0.8%, and ready-mix concrete was flat.

Producer price indexes for five building materials, September 2026. Not seasonally adjusted; September is preliminary.
Material	BLS series	August 2026	September 2026	Change on month (%)	Change on year (%)	Change since December 2025 (%)
Steel mill products	WPU1017	380.348	388.580	2.2%	27.6%	24.4%
Plywood	WPU083	298.353	303.660	1.8%	12.6%	12.8%
Lumber	WPU081	286.355	282.340	-1.4%	8.7%	9.0%
Gypsum products	WPU137	484.844	488.936	0.8%	1.4%	1.8%
Ready-mix concrete	WPU1333	395.299	395.319	0.0%	2.3%	2.4%

Source: api.bls.gov

The index for goods used in new residential construction also set a record, at 355.2, up 1.8% on the month and 9.7% on the year.

What this means for a remodeling quote

A remodeling quote covers labor, overhead and scope as well as materials, as the guide to what remodeling costs explains. These indexes follow the materials, fuel and freight inside the price.

Ask how long the quote’s price holds, and whether the contract adds a fuel, delivery or material surcharge. A quote written in December 2025 and signed now covers a span when this goods index rose 10.0%.
Pennsylvania’s Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act requires a home improvement contract to include the total sales price, or a time and materials provision, and a set of specifications that “cannot be changed without a written change order signed by the owner and the contractor.” A surcharge added after you sign belongs in a change order. The change orders guide covers what one should include.
If a contract adjusts its price with a published index, the BLS price adjustment guide advises naming the index and the base month, and agreeing before signing whether the calculation uses first-published or final values. An adjustment tied to goods less foods and energy would have moved 0.1% in September. One tied to the full goods index would have moved 1.8%.

For a question about whether a particular contract term is enforceable, ask a lawyer or the Attorney General’s office.

Caveats

These are national producer prices. They measure what producers receive, not what a contractor pays a supplier in Montgomery County or what you pay for finished work, and they have no breakdown for southeastern Pennsylvania.

The indexes are not seasonally adjusted, so some month-to-month movement is seasonal. The changes on the year compare the same month.

The BLS guide says the first-published index for a month and the values for the three months before it can be revised, and the value from four months earlier becomes final. June through September 2026 can still change; May is now final at 334.4. In this release BLS revised the goods index for August from 336.696 to 336.695, and plywood for August down 0.6%. The next release, with October data, is scheduled for November 13, 2026.

This article compares the parts of the index without the weights BLS gives each one, so it cannot say how many points of the September rise came from energy. The five materials were chosen by this site from the commodity indexes BLS publishes and are not the full list of goods in the index.

Energy prices | Conshy Contractor

Prices of goods for home repair rose 9.7% in the year to September 2026, the largest gain since November 2022

Parts of the index

Building materials

What this means for a remodeling quote

Caveats