Hammer Time?

Interesting research from Lowe's:

Home Improvement Projects Appeal to DIY Crowd

Lowe's says U.S. consumers are wielding hammers and pruning saws with a vengeance -- and that the new do-it-yourself derring-do is not all about the recession.

The Mooresville, N.C.-based home improvement retailer says of those homeowners planning a do-it-yourself home improvement project over the next 12 months, the most popular categories are: lawn or garden projects (84 percent); interior painting (82 percent); exterior painting (65 percent); installing a new floor (56 percent); and remodeling or adding a new bathroom (55 percent).

And while 35 percent concede the main reason they're DIY-ing is to save money, a surprising 32 percent gave "pleasure" as the main motivator. And yes, that extends to a complex relationship with the lawn: 80 percent cut their own grass, and intend to keep doing so.

That's good news for retailers, especially those like Lowe's and the Home Depot, which have been pummeled by the slump in the housing market. And while many like to tout the remodeling sector of the business as recession-proof, it isn't: Total sales in the home-improvement segment of the market fell 4.5 percent to $290.5 billion in 2008, according to the Home Improvement Research Institute, which is predicting an even sharper decline of 6.5 percent for this year.

But a recent study from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies does find that the downturn in this segment of the economy will be less pronounced than the housing market overall. "Lower mobility rates imply not only lower levels of improvement spending, but also changes in spending priorities," the study says. "With home prices falling, owners are shifting from high-end discretionary improvements to those that maintain the structural integrity and efficient functioning of their homes, as well as generate cost savings."

Among the growth spots: Increasing demand for green improvements, upgrades to the nation's aging rental stock, and the growing population of immigrant homeowners, whose home-improvement spending has been growing at about 13 percent a year since 2000, compared to 7 percent of native-born households.

Lowe's survey also noted an increase in people combining DIY with do-it-for-me. Among those who are planning kitchen remodeling, for example, 37 percent say that while they will hire professionals to do some part of the job, they will handle some aspect of the project themselves.

The two tasks least embraced by the DIY crowd? Installing carpets and replacing roofs.

(Source: Marketing Daily, 04/15/09)

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