Recent homebuyers are taking on larger scope projects than all other home renovators according to the ‘Houzz & Home Australia’ survey from Houzz, the home renovation and design platform.
The survey which took in almost 10,000 respondents across Australia and a further 185,000 globally, revealed that 29 percent of home renovations are driven by recent home purchases.
The study found that recent homebuyers are nearly twice as likely to renovate all of their interior spaces than the average home renovator (15 percent versus eight percent, respectively).
In terms of priorities, kitchen projects top the list for recent buyers (31 percent versus 25 percent for the average renovating homeowner), followed by living rooms (32 percent versus 23 percent) and master bathrooms (22 percent versus 17 percent).
“2016 was another strong year for the home renovation market, with homeowners continuing to invest in their homes," said Nino Sitchinava, principal economist at Houzz.
“While the majority of renovations are spurred by homeowners’ desire to upgrade a home they have lived in for some time, recent home purchases are also an important driver of home renovation activity. Recent homebuyers tend to do more, spend more, and are more likely to hire professionals to help with their renovation projects than other homeowners.”
The study also found that half of homeowners are currently planning to begin or continue renovations in 2017 (50 percent) and plan to spend an average of $47,000 on home renovations.
In 2016, kitchen renovations commanded the highest spend ($19,300), followed by master bathrooms ($12,300), said Houzz.
In terms of a breakdown of spending and redesigns and rebuilds, the Houzz study found in order to create more energy efficient homes, homeowners are installing home automation technology and solar systems during their renovations (8 percent and 7 percent respectively).
Australian homeowners are also health conscious with almost a quarter reporting health concerns as a priority factor to their renovation project (24 percent) while nine in ten renovating homeowners hired professionals for their renovation projects in 2016.
