According to Mortgage Choice’s 2016 Money Survey, 36.2% of homeowners said renovations were high on their agenda.
Mortgage Choice CEO John Flavell says he isn’t surprised to see such a significant percentage of homeowners looking to renovate their property over the coming year.
“Not only can renovating a home significantly improve its value, but it also allows homeowners to stay at their current address,” he said.
“Furthermore, with property prices continuing to rise across most capital cities year on year, many homeowners may believe it is cheaper to renovate their home rather than buy and move elsewhere.”
The data from Mortgage Choice supports the outlook of the Housing Industry Association, who predicted that renovation activity will increase by 0.7% in 2016 and then steadily increase in the following years.
Research conducted by RP Data CoreLogic found property prices across the combined capital cities grew 0.5% in February, taking values 7.6% higher over the last 12 months, which follows an 8.3% jump in property prices the year before.
Following those increases Flavell said its unsurprising people may be looking to renovate, rather than try and buy a new property.
“This data would not only suggest that the Australian property market remains robust, but price growth is unlikely to stagnate anytime soon.
“With that said, it is not surprising to see more than one third of Australian homeowners are looking to renovate their home within the next 12 months.”
According to the Mortgage Choice survey, kitchens and bathrooms are the most popular choice for renovations, with 57% of respondents saying they would focus on those rooms.
