Stainless steel appliances are popular choices in modern kitchen remodeling projects.
New data shows from the most recent quarter of 2010, the demand for home remodeling projects and additions declined but the need for high-end maintenance and repairs increased.
As home prices decline, homeowners are finding that it is better to fix, repair and maintain the home than it is to remodel. If you plan to sell your home in today’s economic recession, you most likely will not see a return on your home remodeling investment.
The information comes from the Home Remodeling and Repair Index of ServiceMagic for the year’s third quarter, which involved looking at an estimated 1.5 million home service calls given to ServiceMagic from August and October, plus another survey of service professionals and homeowners.
After seeing strong demands at the beginning of the year, requests for remodeling and home additions have now slowed and fell 18 percent around the United States. The number of kitchen remodeling projects fell 6 percent and bathroom-remodeling projects fell 33 percent in the third quarter. Both kitchen and bathroom projects showed increases in the first quarter, with kitchen remodels up 191 percent and bathroom projects up 30 percent.
“The past couple quarters we reported strong indications from homeowners about their pent-up demand for remodeling their homes, particularly for kitchen and bath remodeling,” said ServiceMagic CEO Craig Smith. “It appears that this pent-up demand front-loaded the work into the first half of the year.”
The survey found that 46 percent of consumers waited at least a year to put money toward expensive maintenance and home repairs. Of the homeowners surveyed, 62 percent said they went forward with expensive home improvement projects because the work was needed to avoid upkeep that is even more extensive.
Around the country, there are increased service requests for some high-cost repairs, including work on window installations, roofing, furnace systems, septic tanks and walls.
As a free service to homeowners, , has thousands of unbiased ratings on services for home improvements, car repairs, and more. Homeowners can get matched to up to four professionals for their projects.