As more people struggle to pay their mortgage and fewer take out home-equity loans, many homeowners have cut back their spending on remodeling kitchens, replacing windows and other improvement projects.

Two out of three homeowners who had planned an improvement project this year said they would wait until the market stabilizes, and about 10 percent said they were abandoning the idea of a project this year, according to an e-mail survey with 2,100 responses from homeowners in 11 metro areas.

The survey by the Zoomerang research firm, while not a random sample of homeowners, offers anecdotal evidence of the jitters about the housing recession. And it matches industry figures. The remodeling industry, with annual sales of about $280 million, is expected to see a 2.6 percent annual rate of decline through autumn, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies. And Freddie Mac said homeowners pulled out $60 billion in cash from their homes in the third quarter, down from $81 billion in the second quarter of last year.

As property values drop in many areas, some homeowners are finding it harder to refinance their mortgages and take out cash to finish the basement. Falling home prices can also reduce the money that a homeowner stands to recoup on a project.

"We are telling homeowners who want to sell in the next couple of years to do repairs or improvements to make the house look good, but not to spend a lot of money on a bathroom or kitchen," said Ron Phipps of Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I.

A swimming pool can cost $50,000 to put in, for example, but it may add only $10,000 to the property's value even in a normal market, Phipps said.

Still, homeowners with access to cash have bargaining power. With home construction plunging in many parts of the country, general contractors are "hungry right now," Phipps said, and will do remodeling projects at cut-rate prices.

Lower interest rates are also easing the strain on homeowners who can afford a big project, said Craig Smith, CEO of www.ServiceMagic.com, a Web site that screens remodeling contractors. He said traffic on the site was down in January, especially for big-ticket jobs, but spiked about 10 percent after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates twice.

Dean Herriges of Urban Herriges & Sons, a Milwaukee remodeling company, said his business is "a little weaker" than last year "but healthy." He said he's still getting calls from baby boomers who have the money and the home equity for a new kitchen, although even they are asking more questions about prices.