Despite higher costs, home remodeling projects go ahead

Home improvement projects have gotten more expensive due to forty-year high inflation and ongoing supply chain problems, but people aren’t giving up.

A new survey of 1,000 homeowners by Nationwide shows that while 71% of homeowners who have projects planned are faced with higher costs, limited availability of materials and delays, most will still go ahead with their upgrades.

The majority of renovating homeowners surveyed – 57% – say they are focused on repairing the wear and tear of their homes, while 55% are taking on house projects to make their homes more enjoyable. Forty-nine percent of homeowners said they want to change something that’s outdated in their homes.

“Most homeowners who completed major remodels in 2021 faced significant obstacles brought on by supply chain and inflation issues, such as higher material and labor costs, delayed timelines, and limited material availability,” explained Cathy Allocco, vice president of small commercial sales and distribution at Nationwide. “What’s most surprising, though, is these hurdles are not impacting their future remodeling plans with seven in ten homeowners saying they’ll proceed with their remodeling plans in 2022 anyway, but they’re looking for new ways to work with contractors to save on prices.”

Some of those money-saving plans include signing a contract with a contractor to lock in pricing, even though work may not begin for another three months. Also, 94% of homeowners said they’d be willing to store the project materials on their own property to prevent future material cost increases, the Nationwide survey shows.

Both homeowners and contractors surveyed expect that supply chain bottlenecks, high inflation, and increased material and labor costs will continue to have an impact on household projects throughout this year.

Most homeowners are concerned about it. Sixty-three percent of homeowners say they are worried about high material costs, 50% are concerned about delays with materials, and 45% fear having to choose different materials for their projects due to limited availability.

But only 5% of homeowners say that such challenges would halt their projects.