Homeowners Report More Interest in Home Projects and Maintenance

More than half of respondents in a recent Hippo survey said they have completed at least one home improvement project in the last year.

With extra time at home due to the pandemic, 54% of people got to work on their homes, specifically the backyard (21%), kitchen (20%), home office (18.4%) and home gym (9%). The price tag went up for most people too, with 66% of consumers spending at least $1,000 on improvements, while 10% spent $10,000 or more.

With such an influx of people working from home, 52% of respondents said they spent money on new or upgraded office equipment. Millennials especially were more apt to purchase “extras” for their office, like ring lights, microphones and green screens. Millennials were also most likely to have found a new hobby during quarantine, most likely creating content with their new tools, according to 77%, followed by baking and personal fitness.

Additionally, the silver lining of the pandemic is that more people are taking an interest in home maintenance. More than half of respondents (52%) said they have become more involved with maintaining their home, with millennials (64%) leading the pack. One-third of homeowners said they have created a home maintenance routine, and 76% of those respondents said they are now more proactive with keeping up their house.

Not surprisingly, the majority of homeowners (76%) said there is at least one, if not more, home maintenance chore they dislike. The most common was cleaning the gutters, followed by lawn care and cleaning the oven. The top three areas that homeowners were neglecting the most were plumbing, heating and electric. But perhaps it’s best to leave those to the professionals.