A significant number of Australians have still got the renovation bug, according to recently released research, and the speculation is that TV shows like The Block have inspired Aussie investors to use renovation as an investment strategy.
Home renovations have “remained relatively stable”, says the latest survey on the subject from Roy Morgan, with over two million Australians having spent $5,000 or more renovating or extending their home in the past 12 months.
The figure represents 10.6% of the Australian population aged 14-plus, and has remained relatively stable over the past five years: the corresponding figure in 2008 was 1.95 million.
The report notes that young singles are unlikely renovators to be renovators (4%), but young couples (11%) are more likely to get the renovation bug. Young parents and mid-life families both score 13%, while mid-life households and older households score 12% and 9% respectively.
“The popularity of TV shows like The Block and the number of new Bunnings, Masters and Mitre 10 stores show what a big business home renovating is. The typical home renovator is a highly attractive target; typically they live in a young to mid-life family, they’re well educated and have a higher than average income,” said Norman Morris, industry communications director for Roy Morgan Research.
“But as our findings reveal there are distinct life-stage factors affecting those that renovate. We see that renovating your home is a family affair as a higher proportion of families renovate and that the home is the heart for family entertaining.
“As the home hardware category competition intensifies it will be interesting to see how each competitor will tailor their advertising and product offering to these distinct segments.”
