Inside Houzz
Houston Renovation Spending Up 60 Percent After Hurricane Harvey
California cities top the list for priciest places to renovate a home, according to the 2018 Houzz & Home Report
Houston Joins the High-Price List That California Dominates
Last year the median spend on home renovations was highest around booming Silicon Valley, where the San Jose greater metro area clocked in the highest median renovation spend in the nation at $30,000. Nearby San Francisco was not far behind at a median spend of $25,000. Median is the midpoint spending level, with half spending more and half spending less. Economists consider it a more useful measure than a plain “average” or “mean,” which gets skewed upward by pricey outlier projects.
The San Jose and San Francisco metro areas have topped the nation in terms of median spending on home renovations for the last three years. “The cost of housing is so high that people are not buying the homes they really wanted, so remodeling becomes inevitable,” says Rhoda Fry, co-owner of Bill Fry Construction in Cupertino, California, which builds and remodels homes in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.
Houston joined the top 10 for the first time in 2017 thanks to its $24,000 median home renovation spending, a 60 percent jump from the year before. The dramatic rise in renovation spending was not surprising after Harvey, which left some 101,000 homes damaged or destroyed.
Though the median renovation spend in Houston was $24,000, many homes sustained damage last year that cost their owners far more. (Remember that “median” is the midpoint value in a range — so here it means that half of renovating households spent less than $24,000 and half spent more.) Houzz estimated last year that the hurricane damage could be as high as $200,000 for some owners.
Last year the median spend on home renovations was highest around booming Silicon Valley, where the San Jose greater metro area clocked in the highest median renovation spend in the nation at $30,000. Nearby San Francisco was not far behind at a median spend of $25,000. Median is the midpoint spending level, with half spending more and half spending less. Economists consider it a more useful measure than a plain “average” or “mean,” which gets skewed upward by pricey outlier projects.
The San Jose and San Francisco metro areas have topped the nation in terms of median spending on home renovations for the last three years. “The cost of housing is so high that people are not buying the homes they really wanted, so remodeling becomes inevitable,” says Rhoda Fry, co-owner of Bill Fry Construction in Cupertino, California, which builds and remodels homes in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.
Houston joined the top 10 for the first time in 2017 thanks to its $24,000 median home renovation spending, a 60 percent jump from the year before. The dramatic rise in renovation spending was not surprising after Harvey, which left some 101,000 homes damaged or destroyed.
Though the median renovation spend in Houston was $24,000, many homes sustained damage last year that cost their owners far more. (Remember that “median” is the midpoint value in a range — so here it means that half of renovating households spent less than $24,000 and half spent more.) Houzz estimated last year that the hurricane damage could be as high as $200,000 for some owners.
Like Houston, Los Angeles saw a bump in median renovation spending in 2017, bringing it to a median renovation-spending level of $25,000 per renovating household. Some of its 25 percent increase is probably due to renovation work that resulted from damage inflicted by Southern California’s wildfires. However, it’s likely that much of the work needed in Los Angeles in the wake of the fires was not reflected in these numbers, since much of it would have been new construction rather than renovation, says Nino Sitchinava, principal economist at Houzz.
Meanwhile, the median annual spend on renovations dropped by 25 percent in Tampa, one of the metro areas hit by Hurricane Irma. This may be because we simply haven’t yet seen as much renovation work in this area resulting from Irma. This could be due to the fact that while Irma inflicted some flood damage, the hurricane had a bigger impact in terms of wind damage — think blown-off roof shingles — that doesn’t necessarily have to be fixed immediately. Instead, people could wait until their insurance checks arrived. By contrast, much of the damage from Harvey was due to flooding, which must be fixed quickly lest it lead to mold.
Across the U.S., renovations triggered by natural disasters increased to 6 percent in 2017 from 4 percent in 2016, the study found.
Meanwhile, the median annual spend on renovations dropped by 25 percent in Tampa, one of the metro areas hit by Hurricane Irma. This may be because we simply haven’t yet seen as much renovation work in this area resulting from Irma. This could be due to the fact that while Irma inflicted some flood damage, the hurricane had a bigger impact in terms of wind damage — think blown-off roof shingles — that doesn’t necessarily have to be fixed immediately. Instead, people could wait until their insurance checks arrived. By contrast, much of the damage from Harvey was due to flooding, which must be fixed quickly lest it lead to mold.
Across the U.S., renovations triggered by natural disasters increased to 6 percent in 2017 from 4 percent in 2016, the study found.
Where Does Your City Stack Up?
The median annual renovation spend per household in 2017 varied widely across the 50 largest metros in the United States. Coastal cities tended to be the costliest, while those in the middle of the country were less-expensive places to renovate. The least-pricey location in the U.S. for renovations was Columbus, Ohio, where the median spend was $10,000 in 2017.
Download the full study here
More
Data Watch: The Cost of the Summer Hurricanes
Read about planning for a disaster
Find a contractor in your area
The median annual renovation spend per household in 2017 varied widely across the 50 largest metros in the United States. Coastal cities tended to be the costliest, while those in the middle of the country were less-expensive places to renovate. The least-pricey location in the U.S. for renovations was Columbus, Ohio, where the median spend was $10,000 in 2017.
Download the full study here
More
Data Watch: The Cost of the Summer Hurricanes
Read about planning for a disaster
Find a contractor in your area
Home renovation costs depend not only on the work that is done but also on the location where the work takes place. And in Houston, which was hit by Hurricane Harvey last year, the median renovation spending level jumped 60 percent, according to new data in the 2018 Houzz & Home report.
The national study included responses from more than 130,000 U.S. homeowners on Houzz, including 72,000 who renovated their primary home in 2017. It revealed median home renovation spending levels in the 50 biggest metro areas in the U.S., as well as how those spending levels changed over the last three years. Read on to see where your area stacks up.