Home Remodeling & Repair Survey

Craig Smith
CEO ServiceMagic

Since hitting the bottom in the fourth quarter of 2008, homeowners' optimism about their home and the overall economy continues to improve with each passing quarter. The extent of this enthusiasm is highly influenced by where they live as the recovery in home improvement is impacting certain regions of the US sooner and more significantly than others. The good news from our third quarter index is that homeowner optimism has continued to improve and more people are willing to confidently invest in home improvements beyond required repairs and maintenance.

Generally speaking, homeowners seem to once again be willing to spend on discretionary items for their homes that is, projects that don't necessarily have to be done but improve the value of their home. For the first time this year, we saw an increase in Cleaning & Maid Services. This category was a good indicator that home spending was tightening at the beginning of the recession because homeowners were choosing to just do this work themselves over hiring a professional. Larger remodeling projects, which showed modest gains in Q2, continued to build steam along with smaller projects such as countertop and cabinet replacement.

Additionally, our consumer sentiment survey results show that more homeowners are feeling good about their homes as investments again. The survey results also show that discretionary projects were largely paid for in cash versus financing or credit. The combination of consumer sentiment and available cash has contributed to an uptick in remodeling categories, and foreshadows continued growth for the foreseeable future.

Another interesting trend is the location of where things are picking up. Though still spotty, to be sure, home improvement is gaining more ground in the East. Moving west, the numbers begin to decline while the Midwest took a big dip and the Pacific region remained flat.

Overall, ServiceMagic is seeing trends that reflect a continued recovery in the home improvement market. The service professionals who belong to our network say their businesses have taken a hit, but continue to feel positive about the next 12 months, while homeowners continue to give them reason for their optimism.

Best regards,
Craig Smith