Home repair starting to outpace desire for new homes

By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com

It’s no secret about supply chain issues and higher costs that have hit hard since the COVID-19 pandemic, though there are signs that some are coming back to prepandemic levels. And since that has been the case, many who are operating on tighter budgets have been thinking about remodeling or simply improving their homes as opposed to buying a new home according to experts.

One of the rising costs has been new homes, with both average and median home prices for all six Leader zip codes increasing from 2021 to 2022 according to the Houston Association of Realtors. That was also the trend across Houston according to HAR, with region-wide average home price going up 10 percent and median price jumping 12.8 percent from 2021 to 2022.

So, research has shown that many homeowners have been planning to focus on home repair projects around the house as opposed to a completely new home. Houzz conducted a survey of nearly 4,000 homeowners in October 2022, and data found that nearly a quarter of those homeowners planned to start a home improvement project sometime in 2023. Further, according to Houzz, more than half of those homeowners surveyed said there are no plans to move from their current spot in the near future. A report from the U.S. News and World Report said that more than 75 percent of 2,000 home- owners surveyed cited inflation as a reason for putting off repairs or improvements. However, there are still ways to improve your home and make it last – even for those on a budget. And as of Spring 2022, a report from Forbes said that the American Institute of Architects reported that most billing for architecture firms had come for renovation work as opposed to plans for new homes.

What can be done?

So what’s the solution to navigating rising costs and being able to repair a home on a budget? Experts say there are some nice and simple repairs to existing things in your home can be just the trick. It can be something as simple as remodeling a bathroom, or maybe fixing that water heater that has been giving you so much trouble. Experts have also said that simply performing routine main- tenance and repairs on smaller things around the home is much more cost-efficient than simply taking out the old thing and replacing it with a new one. First Service Credit Union says that performing routine repairs and maintenance can save homeowners tens of thousands of dollars on future repairs. One common practice that comes up is the 50 percent rule. It has been cited many times. Sim- ply put, when deciding whether to replace an item or buy a new one to upgrade your home, examine what the cost will be for repairs versus buying a new item. The rule is simply that if the cost of repairs are more than 50 percent of the cost of buying a new one, than buying new is better than repairing.

But in many cases, repairs can be the best way for those on a tight budget to spruce up and repair their home for a fraction of what it would take to either buy a new home or do a full-scale remodel according to experts. And many of those repairs, they say, can be done by the homeowner themselves or a contractor, and the materials needed can be picked up at a local home improvement store – thus avoiding delays caused by any supply chain issues that might still be happening.

Home builder Dunn and Stone says that for those who still want to splurge a bit, it’s possible to do so while staying on a budget. They suggest putting a little more into repairing spaces that are used most often in the home – that can be a place like the living room, or perhaps a home office, or whatever suits the homeowner’s needs, while sparing costs on less-used spaces.