Home Improvement Generational Insights

For more recent data and insights, con­sid­er read­ing this blog arti­cle dis­cussing 7 Dif­fer­ences Dri­ving Home Improve­ment Behav­iors Among Mil­len­ni­als, Gen X, and Baby Boomers in 2023.

These Generational Insights Can Boost Your Home Improvement Business

How preva­lent is home­own­er­ship from gen­er­a­tion to gen­er­a­tion? Will this be the year mil­len­ni­als close the gap? What are the biggest moti­va­tors for home improve­ment projects? How long do home­own­ers from dif­fer­ent gen­er­a­tions think about a project before tak­ing the plunge? These are just some of the gen­er­a­tional insights you can glean from the newest Gen­er­a­tional Age Group Analy­sis. This orig­i­nal, pro­pri­etary research pro­vides a com­pre­hen­sive pic­ture of gen­er­a­tional atti­tudes and behav­iors, from mil­len­ni­als to matures.

The study results are packed with deep insights that can help you boost your home improve­ment busi­ness, whether you’re a man­u­fac­tur­er or retail­er. Here are a few highlights.

Gen­er­a­tional Analy­sis Highlights

• Inci­dence of home­own­er­ship: Boomers, at 71 per­cent, boast the high­est rate of home­own­er­ship. Mil­len­ni­al own­er­ship remains low (36.8 per­cent), as they wait longer than their elders to pur­chase their first home. 
• Chang­ing tides: Mil­len­ni­als, how­ev­er, are gain­ing speed: despite a low over­all rate of own­er­ship, they account­ed for more than one-third of all recent home purchases. 
• Online real estate: The inter­net is now the pre­dom­i­nant search tool for prospec­tive buy­ers. How­ev­er, old­er buy­ers also still lean on tra­di­tion­al media such as print newspapers. 
• It’s an Ama­zon world: Gen X and mil­len­ni­al home­own­ers are more like­ly to turn to a non-store­front retail­er, such as Ama­zon, for their home improve­ment pur­chas­es. How­ev­er, matures are still more like­ly to shop at spe­cial­ty stores. 
• Trust­ed advice: Com­pared to old­er gen­er­a­tions, mil­len­ni­als are much more like­ly to reach out to friends and fam­i­ly for home­buy­ing advice. 
• Home improve­ment spend­ing: From 2016 to 2018, spend­ing on home improve­ment projects increased for more than 20 per­cent of home­own­ers. This is most true for mil­len­ni­als (57 per­cent are spend­ing more). 
• Old­er homes: All gen­er­a­tions are pur­chas­ing homes with a medi­an year built of 1998 or ear­li­er. Aging hous­ing stock should cor­re­late with increased home improve­ment projects, whether for main­te­nance and repair or cos­met­ic upgrades. 
• Land­scap­ing is king: Of projects com­plet­ed recent­ly, lawn and land­scap­ing is the most com­mon, fol­lowed by inte­ri­or painting. 
• Old­er home­own­ers trust the pros: Matures and boomers are quick to hire a pro­fes­sion­al, like­ly due to more dis­pos­able income and greater sav­ings. Almost half say they hire a pro because the job is too big for them to com­plete on their own.

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