Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
New information from the Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) demonstrates how a recent uptick in home sales has motivated a surge in home remodels.
HIRI recently surveyed 800 homeowners who have purchased a home within the past 12 months to learn more about their remodeling plans and how the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected them.
Of the 800 homeowners surveyed, 83 percent of them completed some type of home improvement activity within the first year of owning their home. That figure represents a sharp increase over the previous iteration of the study, in which just 70 percent of homeowners planned a DIY activity.
Common projects for these new homeowners included landscaping, decks and working on living rooms.
More than 20 percent of people who purchased a home from March through September stated COVID-19 was a motivating factor behind their purchase. In addition, government stimulus checks from the CARES Act also helped nearly 20 percent of responding homeowners put a down payment on a home.
Eight percent of new homeowners say they used some of their stimulus check on home improvement activities, HIRI reports. The major source of funding for many projects was money from savings accounts, bank credit cards and store credit cards.
To learn more about HIRI and what’s motivating new homeowners to invest in home improvement projects, visit HIRI online.
