The past few years have seen tremendous change in our lifestyles and spending, and our homes are no exception. Angi’s State of Home Spending Report for 2022 demonstrates how things have changed this year, and what you can expect for 2023.
The single biggest impact on home spending in recent years, of course, has been the pandemic. As homeowners hunkered down in their houses for much of 2020, they thought less about how home improvements might affect value, and instead how they would change and improve their lifestyles as everyone was staying at home more often.
Now that many pre-pandemic activities and behaviors have returned, how has this affected home spending? Angie surveyed 6,500 consumers to determine what was most important to them. It turns out that lifestyle needs are still a major driver. Prior to 2020, “return on investment” was the top motivator for home improvement spending on Angi surveys. This year, 61 percent of homeowners say lifestyle considerations are the most important reason for doing work on their homes, whether to make it better suited for their needs or to get more enjoyment out of an outdated home.
After a huge 2021, in which homeowners spent more than $10,000 on average on home improvement spending, the average returned to $8,484 in 2022, more in keeping with previous years. With pandemic-related lifestyle changes settling down, inflation was a big factor in home improvement in 2022. Nearly three-quarters of homeowners said inflation influenced both their spending and the number of projects they undertook. And interest rates have their own impact.
