Although home sales are on the rise and the market is rebounding, many Americans remain ‘stuck’ in their homes, either because they are underwater on their mortgages or due to tight inventory.
As a result, many plan to invest in their homes this summer, not only to increase home value, but also to improve their surroundings.
According to real estate data and analytics firm Zillow, about 60% of U.S. homeowners plan to invest $1,200 or more in their homes this summer. Using data from its Zillow Digs service, which helps homeowners decide which improvement projects to pursue, Zillow's research shows that younger homeowners and those with children are more likely to take on a home improvement project this summer.
According to Zillow, 71% of homeowners age 18 to 34 are likely to take on an improvement project this summer. However, this drops to 61% for homeowners age 35 to 54 and to 51% for homeowners age 55 and over.
About 65% of homeowners with children plan to take on a project; however that drops to 57% for homeowners with no children.
Interestingly, homeowners age 54 and younger plan to spend one-third more ($1,500) compared to homeowners age 55 and older ($1,000).
About 40% of homeowners indicated that they plan to focus on outdoor spaces, while 17% said they plan to focus on bathrooms.
Perhaps not surprisingly, more than half of Zillow Digs users said they get their ideas for home improvement projects from online resources. About 25% of users said they used HGTV.com for ideas, while 15% said they used Pinterest and 6% said they used Zillow Digs.