HomeAdvisor Releases New State of Home Spending Report Highlighting Home Services Spending Trends

DENVER, June 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, HomeAdvisor released its annual State of Home Spending Report, which focuses on home service spending, how we prioritize our savings and spending and how we value having a defined sense of home for ourselves and for our families. Findings of the report show that 2018 was a robust year for consumer spending on home services, with average total spending of $9,081 on home improvement, maintenance and emergencies.

"The spending patterns that characterize how we service and customize our homes represent a distinct and valuable area of the economy," said Mischa Fisher, HomeAdvisor's Chief Economist and report author.  "Our homes are typically our biggest purchases, our most valuable assets, and our largest source of savings. At the same time, homes are deeply intimate places in a non-economic sense."

Fisher continues, "The home services market is a dynamic economic engine that employs millions of service professionals in stable, well-paying jobs while delivering joy and satisfaction to tens of millions of consumers. This report helps us understand how this engine continues to develop and change based on the ongoing evolution of consumer tastes, sentiments and behaviors."

The report provides insights into homeowner spending trends and the primary factors influencing home project decision-making include including age group, region, gender, consumer confidence and experience with homeownership.

Findings of the report show that spending per household on home services is up 17% in 2018 from 2017. Main contributing factors to this increase are the growing cultural focus on design aesthetics and quality of life, and newer and better home improvement tools. This in turn can be linked to the economic expansion and its tighter labor markets and rising wages.

• Homeowners are spending more on home improvement projects than home maintenance projects. For every $1 spent on home maintenance, homeowners are spending an average of $5 on home improvements.
• Over the past year, room remodels have been the most popular home improvement project, with bathrooms topping the list for the second year in a row. Looking forward, homeowners are prioritizing new appliances, roof replacements and hardwood refinishing in addition to room remodels.
• Homeowners list replacing or repairing damage, defects and decay as the number one reason for spending on home improvement projects.
• Motivations differ among generations: Millennials are more likely than other generations to complete home projects for increased home value. Baby boomers and Generation X are motivated to "modernize" their homes while millennials and the silent generation are motivated to "improve aesthetics and design."
• While homeowners are spending more on home improvement than home maintenance, they report completing an average of 6.7 home maintenance projects over the past 12 months compared to 2.2 home improvement projects. 
• One in three homeowners reports having to complete an emergency home project, with the average cost falling around $1,206.  However, two out of three homeowners report having no emergency projects. Homeowners living in areas prone to extreme weather events report the highest spending.
• Older homes don't necessarily require higher emergency spending. In fact, homeowners report spending $3.70 less for every year since a home was built, meaning that the owner of a 100-year-old home could spend an average of $370 less on emergency home projects per year than the owner of a brand-new home.

This report also found many new generational trends including a focus by Millennials on ROI for home improvement spending decisions.

"It makes sense that first time home buyers complete more home improvement projects and spend more money on home services," said Fisher. "Many of the millennials who bought a home in the last few years are seeking upgrades to increase the value of their homes and improve aesthetics.   This focus on return on investment from Millennials is likely due to a combination of typical youthful focus on wealth accumulation and their comparatively poorer financial situation driving a hunger to recover relative to their older cohorts."

The report is informed by HomeAdvisor's True Cost Guide, an online guide for homeowners to access real costs as reported by consumers for home projects, as well as results from an annual survey* conducted among homeowners. To view the complete report, visit HomeAdvisor's 2019 State of Home spending page.

About HomeAdvisor
HomeAdvisor® is a digital marketplace evolving the way homeowners connect with service professionals to complete home projects. With HomeAdvisor's on-demand platform, homeowners can find and vet local, prescreened home service professionals; view average home project costs using True Cost Guide; and instantly book appointments online or through HomeAdvisor's award-winning mobile app, which is compatible with all iOS, Android and virtual assistants, including Amazon Echo. HomeAdvisor is based in Golden, Colo., and is an operating business of ANGI Homeservices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI). 

* Data included in the State of Home Spending Report is based on an online survey conducted by HomeAdvisor's internal research team. The survey was conducted nationwide among 1,488 adult homeowners from April 9^th – 22^nd, 2019. All survey respondents reported having decision making responsibility related to home improvement, home maintenance and/or home emergency spending completed in the prior 12 months.

SOURCE HomeAdvisor

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