The White House Beats Out A-List Celebrity Pads As The Home Most Americans Want To See In The "HGTV HomePulse Survey"

NEW YORK, June 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite the insatiable fascination with the lives of Hollywood celebrities, if given the opportunity to view only one famous home, one in three Americans (31 percent) would choose to see The White House instead of the luxury home hideaways of known stars such as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt (14 percent), Jennifer Lopez (10 percent) and Jay-Z and Beyonce (6 percent) -- proving that First Families are always en vogue.   The inaugural "HGTV HomePulse Survey," the first in a series commissioned by Scripps Networks Interactive and Vision Critical to monitor consumer perspectives on home-related topics such as real estate, renovation, decoration and budgeting, also uncovers that Americans' true obsession is with improving or enhancing their own homes. 

Home Improvement Spending Trumps Vacation
The survey of approximately 1,000 randomly selected respondents ages 18+ finds that more than 81 percent believe that "money spent on improving my home will show a good return," while 66 percent agree that "now is a good time to invest in my home." In fact, Americans love their homes so much that 61 percent indicate that they would "choose to spend on their homes rather than on something else like a vacation or the latest electronics."

"We expected the 'HGTV HomePulse Survey' to confirm that people love their homes and are willing to spend money to improve them, but we didn't expect that they would be willing to give up something as important as a vacation to do it," said Denise Conroy, senior vice president, marketing, HGTV.  "The appetite that Americans have for where they live transcends other popular interests and indicates a much deeper relationship between consumers and their homes." 

When it comes to the preferred home improvements, men and women tend to agree on the need to expand the overall square footage of their home.  However, 31 percent of women vs. 17 percent of men would opt to update the decor while 19 percent of men vs. three percent of women would choose technological enhancements.  Interestingly, while many people want to create a comfortable home on the inside, 1 in 3 respondents tagged "a beautiful outdoor space" as extremely important to them.

Sending Out An SOS
Americans are passionate about home improvement, but in need of advice and information when working with professionals. Only 1 out of 5, about 22 percent, is confident that they are knowledgeable enough to keep a contractor honest.  Of course, homeowners in need of a confidence boost can watch such HGTV programs as Property Brothers, Renovation Raiders and Love It or List It. 

Pursuing The American Dream
The "HGTV HomePulse Survey" also reveals that 76 percent of all non-homeowners are optimistic that they will eventually own a home, undoubtedly underscoring an improving housing market.   Also worth noting is that a whopping 64 percent of non-home owning Millennials believe they will be ready to own their own home in their 30s. 

Results from the "HGTV HomePulse Survey" will be released periodically with new findings culled by Vision Critical and Scripps Networks Interactive.

About This Research
From May 30 to May 31, 2013, Scripps Networks Interactive and Vision Critical conducted an online survey among 1,010 randomly selected Springboard America panelists. The margin of error -- which measures sampling variability -- is +/- 3.1%. The results have been statistically weighted by education, age, gender, region, and ethnicity according to American Community Survey benchmarks, to ensure a representative sample.

About HGTV
America's leading home and lifestyle brand, HGTV features a top-rated cable network that is distributed to more than 98 million U.S. households and the HGTV website, HGTV.com, the nation's leading online home-and-garden destination that attracts an average of four million unique visitors per month.  The brand also includes the HGTV HOME™ consumer products line which showcases exclusive collections of paint, flooring, lighting, furniture, plants, fabrics and other home-oriented products. In partnership with Hearst Magazines, HGTV Magazine, a home and lifestyle publication, is currently available on newsstands. Viewers can become fans of HGTV and interact with other home improvement enthusiasts through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., HGTV is wholly owned by Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI).

SOURCE HGTV