July 1, 2022

Modernize Home Services, a provider of marketing services for home improvement contractors, is carefully watching how the latest economic changes are impacting consumer attitudes and demand. In a recent survey of more than 500 homeowners considering home improvement projects, Modernize noted great levels of stress and deep concerns that rising costs might prevent them from proceeding with home improvements they need.

Here is a summary of the findings of the survey:  

Homeowners are feeling a lot of stress — 61% of respondents stated that decisions about improving their home created “More stress than I can handle” or “A lot of stress, tough to manage.” Homeowners considering new roofs were the most affected. Consistent with previous surveys that have shown roofing prospects more stressed than other trade areas, in this current survey, 75% of homeowners gave above high-stress responses.

What’s causing this homeowner stress? The factor cited most often was “inflated cost of DIY or contractor supplies and services” at 21%. The second highest stress is the price of gasoline at 20%. Consumer interest rates (16%) and impact of weather/climate (14%) are also notable. The war in Ukraine is causing less stress on individual homeowners, noted from 7% of respondents. 

They are feeling stress even more than at the start of the pandemic. In fact, 57% of homeowners stated that their stress level today is “much worse” or “somewhat worse” than at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and 19% said the stress level is the same.

The survey also probed for barriers to proceeding with home improvement projects, and the overwhelming majority —69%— of homeowners said the “high cost of supplies” was an issue, while 14% of homeowners said their biggest barrier was “coping with managing the whole project.”

While this recent survey consisted of homeowners actively shopping for home improvement services, many aren’t confident they can proceed. When asked how the current economic situation affects their home improvement plans, 40% said, “There is no way I can afford to accomplish any home improvement plans right now, in this economic and supply chain environment.” 

Additional survey questions addressed how homeowners are thinking about home improvement in the light of rising home values, higher interest rates, and uncertainties in global affairs, employment and labor.