Home Improvements Up 18% Since 2001.

Scarborough Research released an analysis which finds that the percentage of home owners who performed any home improvement project during the past year has increased 18 percent since 2001. Scarborough’s most recent study finds that 65 percent of America’s home owners invested in any home improvement project during the past 12 months, such as landscaping, painting or remodeling.

Additionally, the analysis found that home owners are focusing more inside the home. Several interior home improvement categories have increased since Scarborough’s 2001 analysis. Scarborough’s recent analysis finds that interior paint/wallpaper is the leading home improvement project. Thirty-five percent of home owners currently cite this as an enhancement they have made during the past year. This category is up 30 percent since the 2001 Scarborough study. Other interior projects that have increased since 2001 are carpeting/floor covering (13 percent increase), bathroom remodeling (27 percent increase), and kitchen remodeling (25 percent increase). Landscaping, the top home improvement category in the 2001 report, has dropped to number two in 2004.

“The overall increase in projects is due to the fact that today’s home owners have an investment mentality – the thinking is that if one invests in a project today, it will pay off with the eventual sale of the home,” said Bob Cohen, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer, Scarborough Research. “This mentality manifests itself in the Scarborough study, as we see more home owners taking on involved and expensive projects, such as remodeling.”

“Additionally, the focus on interiors can be in part attributed to the insecurity of today’s world,” continued Dr. Cohen. “People are taking refuge in their homes more than ever, and keeping one’s sanctuary fresh and new – even by taking on simple, inexpensive projects – adds to the feelings of peace and warmth people get from their home.”

The Scarborough analysis also found that Minneapolis is the top U.S. local market for home improvements, among the 75 markets measured by Scarborough. Almost three-quarters (74 percent) of Minneapolis home owners conducted home improvement projects during the past year, and they are 13 percent more likely than all home owners nationally to have done so. Rochester, NY, Salt Lake City, Providence, RI, Buffalo, NY, Philadelphia, and Hartford, CT, trail closely as 73 percent of home owners in these local markets performed enhancements during the past 12 months.

“Undoubtedly, home improvement has a new role in popular culture,” said Alisa Joseph, vice president, advertiser marketing services, Scarborough Research. “There are countless television programs and seminars on the topic – and the hosts are young and hip artists and contractors who make even the most complex of projects feel attainable to the average American. This has given a rise to a new generation of do-it-yourself home owners who eagerly roll up their sleeves and grab a paintbrush or hammer and get to work on the home.”

To view charts CLICK above on ‘More Images’.

For more information at http://www.scarborough.com