On average, householders spent an average of $15,680 on home improvement, home maintenance and emergency repairs this year and initiated an average of 14.4 domestic projects, according to Angi’s 2021 State of Home Spending Report: The Great Shift – How the Pandemic Put Homes in Focus.
The annual report from the household services website operator determined that the most popular 2021 home project was interior painting, completed by 32% of homeowners, followed by bathroom remodels, by 28%, and installing smart home devices, by 27%, an initiative new to the list. Smart home device projects replaced the flooring in the top three completed efforts in 2021. Other top projects completed were flooring, for 26.7%, landscaping, for 24.7%, exterior painting, for 24.2%, kitchen remodels, for 23.7%, fencing, for 23.1%, roofing, for 19.6%, and cabinet refurbishment, for19.5%.
When asked what they would do if given $10,000, survey respondents said they would launch a living room upgrade, selected by 17%, of homeowners overall. Male respondents prioritized living room upgrades, at 18%, outdoor space upgrades, at 17%, and bedroom upgrades, at 15%, while women prioritized kitchen remodels, at 21%, bathroom upgrades, at 17%, and outdoor space upgrades, at 16%.
Broken out and expanded, the Angi results included:
- Home improvement spending gained 25% to $10,341 across 3.7 projects per household
- Home emergency spending gained 42% to $2,231 across 2.2 projects per household
- Home maintenance spending slipped 4% to $3,018 across 8.5 projects per household
- A quarter of homeowners spend 50% more time at home than they did pre-pandemic, and 14% doubled the amount of time they spend at home
- The top two reasons for failure to complete projects were items being too expensive, for 22%, and COVID-19 disruptions, for 26%
- Half of all homeowners experienced unexpected home equity gains
- Share of households shifting commuting budgets into their homes advanced from 33% last year to 40% this year
- Pandemic movers were 20% more likely to say they were now occupying their “forever home” but just as likely to feel their homes need remodeling
