Maintenance more popular than renovations among homeowners
Are you holding back your spending on home improvement projects this year? If so, you’re not alone. According to the FNB Estate Agent Survey fewer homeowners are willing to splurge their money on renovations in 2018.
Whether you just sealed a deal on a property for sale or you’re looking to upgrade the features of your long-time home, there’s a good chance you intend to make some improvements to the place in the near future. But, chances are you’re also less likely to have the financial confidence to move forward with the remodelling project.
A recent FNB Estate Agent Survey found that 15.5% of real estate agents believe that homeowners planned to do renovations in the second quarter of 2018, a confidence level that’s down from 22.85% of total agents in the 1st quarter of the year.
The findings suggest that economic pessimism appears to be taking hold of homeowners in the wake of the recent VAT increase and more expensive fuel prices. The results also show that owners are giving more thought to their home’s actual needs, with those who maintained their homes well and making some improvements increased from 37.35% in the 1st quarter of 2018 to 41.85% in the 2nd quarter.
According to John Loos, FNB Property Sector Strategist, 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).”
Loos pointed out that the level of homeowners investing in their homes is higher than it was during the 2008/9 recession, however, he noted that with the cost of living increasing nationwide due to a weak economy and rising interest rates, it is expected that home renovation activity will continue to drop to the bottom of owners’ to-do list around the home as they will focus on necessary repairs in the coming months.
