Home improvements have always been an important part of home ownership. Those who purchase a property often remodel the kitchen, add an extra room, give the garden a makeover or install other interior improvements to their homes. But, as the cost of living increases, especially considering the recent VAT and petrol price hikes, many homeowners choose to focus on maintaining their homes instead of renovating or making additions to their homes.
This was one of the findings of the FNB Estate Agent Survey for the first half of 2018, which draws on insights from estate agents to highlight the overall home maintenance and upgrade levels among property owners. It showed that homeowners are feeling much less confident about making improvements as participation in this category dipped from 22.85% in the 1st quarter of 2018 to 15.5% of agents in the 2nd quarter. Home maintenance, on the other hand, has gone up from 37.35% in the 1st quarter of 2018 to 41.85% in the 2nd quarter. There is also an increased focus on basic maintenance issues, growing slightly from 9.85% in the 1st quarter of 2018 to 11.85% in the 2nd quarter.
Explaining these statistics, John Loos, FNB Property Sector Strategist says that “this reflects a Household Sector that is increasingly financially constrained, thus cutting back on luxuries such as home upgrades, but not significantly financially stressed yet (financial stress would result in greater cutbacks in home maintenance too, such as was the case around the 2008/9 recession).”
He also points out that there are signs that the country will continue to see weak economic data in the months to come, which will lead to weaker consumer sentiment. As a result, it’s likely that homeowners will keep on placing more value on maintenance than on improvements.
