The Sweet Spot Remodeling Blog

May 4 2009 8:57AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
Blog This! using: Blogger.com | LiveJournal |

By Jonathan Sweet

The first quarter of this year saw rising demand for  small upgrades and declining requests for large remodels, according to online lead provider ServiceMagic.com.

The company saw a 13 percent increase in service requests from homeowners in the first quarter of the year, according to a new report released Friday. The increase seems to have been driven largely by smaller, repair or maintenance projects versus larger remodels, although handyman service requests were down 27 percent.

The areas that saw the biggest increase in requests:

• Home inspection (+101%)
• Awnings (+76%)
• Countertops (+39%)
• Paving (+31%)
• Heating/Furnace (+28%)
• Insulation (+26%)
• Garage/garage doors (+22%)

These projects saw some of the biggest decreases:

• Architects and engineers (-29%)
• Windows (-29%)
• Handyman services (-27%)
• Additions (-19%)
• Kitchens (-19%)
• Basements (-19%)
• Sunrooms (-13%)
• Bathrooms (-10%)

The survey also broke the numbers down by region. Requests for work were up in the Great Plains (18%), Deep South (8%) and Midwest (7%). Requests were down in the Southwest and Upper South (-1%), Northeast (-3%), Mountain (-9%) and Pacific (-14%) regions. 

ServiceMagic also surveyed consumers to see about their attitudes on their homes and remodeling. Some of the key findings:

• 55 percent of homeowners feel more secure about their home as an investment than they did three months ago
• Only 24 percent of homeowners say they are less likely to put money into "property value-increasing" projects than they were a year ago. A third of homeowners said they are more likely and 43 percent said there was no change.
• 45 percent said they postponed a home repair project last year, 35 percent said they postponed a remodeling project and 28 percent said they held off on a maintenance project.

You can read the full report here (31-page PDF).