Home remodeling activity is in a position to see accelerated growth by the end of this year and into 2013, according to a forecast issued Thursday by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

“Warm weather in the first quarter temporarily bumped up remodeling activity in many areas,” Eric S. Belsky, the center’s managing director, said in a statement. “By the end of the year, however, positive market fundamentals are expected to kick in, moving the industry out of this ebb and flow period and into a new growth phase.”

Belsky based his comments on the center’s Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity.

The tough economy of recent years had many US homeowners putting home-improvement projects on hold, but now there are signs that remodeling might pick up.

“The combination of low financing costs, stronger consumer confidence, improving home sales, and the perception that home prices have stabilized in most markets across the country are encouraging owners to start working on the list of home improvement projects they have been putting off ” Kermit Baker, director of the center’s Remodeling Futures Program, said in a statement.