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- US Improving the Home Market Report 2022
This report provides comprehensive and current information and analysis of the home improvement market including home improvement market size, anticipated market forecast, relevant market segmentation, and industry trends for the home improvement market in the US.
Current market landscape
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, home improvement has been having a moment. This is true in part because we’ve had to transform our homes into offices, schools and gyms but also because people have had more time at home to renovate. Yet even as more people return to their prepandemic lifestyle, home improvement stores report strong growth and consumers report increasing participation, enjoyment and skill. In short, some pandemic behaviors will be long lasting. Inflation has also been a wild card. Higher prices are driving dollar growth, but 43% of consumers say that the growing cost of materials limits their home improvement work.
Market share and key industry trends
- A growing number of consumers are engaged in DIY work. The pandemic made home more important and, by extension, work focused on improving the home became more important. The percentage of consumers who never do any home improvement decreased by 4%, suggesting that as more consumers gain exposure to this work, the portion who are frequent DIYers will gradually tick upward.
- As consumers get their feet wet, enjoyment grows. One of the more notable changes in consumer sentiment since the pandemic unleashed its huge wave of home renovation activity is that more consumers are taking pleasure in the process. During the past two years, the percentage of consumers who say they love home improvement has grown by 5%, from 29% to 34%, while the portion who say they like it has also grown. On the other hand, the percentage who don’t mind, dislike or hate the work has declined notably.
- The economic environment will limit market growth. 43% of consumers are limiting the scope of their home improvement projects due to inflation, while 40% are postponing projects altogether, which is even more detrimental to category growth. Beyond inflation, high interest rates are a big part of the problem because the ability to renovate by tapping home equity has gone away for a large part of the population.
Future market trends in home improvement
Fixing the DIY gender gap represents one of the biggest growth opportunities. This becomes more salient when we consider that men are twice as likely to report that they have advanced skills; they also enjoy DIY work more than women do.
Escalating interest rates represent a key threat to the market. While some consumers say that they are renovating because interest rates made buying a new home unfeasible, millions of consumers also rely on home equity to finance renovation work and that has become less financially prudent.
Read on to discover more about the home improvement consumer market, read our Air Treatment – US – 2022 report, or take a look at our other House and Home Industry research reports.
Quickly understand home improvement market trends
- How COVID-19 and the transition from pandemic to endemic is changing consumer behavior and the market for improving the home
- How inflation and high interest rates are changing consumer behavior
- Retailer and manufacturer brand strategies to reach new and existing consumers
- Drivers and attitudes toward improving the home
Covered in this home improvement market report
Brands include: Home Depot, Lowe’s, Instacart, ACE Hardware, TikTok, Magic Plan, Holosite, DeWalt, Porter-Cable, Plunk.
Expert analysis from a specialist in the home improvement market
This report, written by Jamie Rosenberg, a leading analyst in the Household sector, delivers in-depth commentary and analysis to highlight current trends and add expert context to the numbers.
The pandemic increased the importance of home and broadened its function to take the place of the office, school and gym. That in turn drove a wave of home improvement work over the past two years. Yet as the pandemic becomes an endemic, Mintel expects the market to remain robust. That’s because for many people, growing home improvement skill and enjoyment has transformed this work from chore to avocation. While the impact of inflation and mounting interest rates are complex, there are signs that some pandemic behaviors that accelerated market growth over the past two years will be permanent. This, combined with a slowing but still robust real estate market, suggests that consumers won’t put down their hammers any time soon.
Jamie Rosenberg
Associate Director, Global Household and Personal Care
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Overview
- What you need to know
- This Report looks at the following areas
- Definition
- Market context
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Executive Summary
- Top takeaways
- Market overview
- Figure 1: Category outlook, 2022-27
- Opportunities and challenges
- Opportunity: leverage consumers’ growing DIY enthusiasm
- Figure 2: Home improvement enjoyment, 2020-22
- Opportunity: close the DIY gender gap
- Figure 3: DIY skill level, by gender, 2022
- Opportunity and challenge: embrace the secondhand market
- Figure 4: Use of secondhand home improvement markets, by age and income, 2022
- Opportunity and challenge: give consumers better planning tools
- Figure 5: Plunk renovation ROI app
- Key consumer insights
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Target Audience by the Numbers
- Participation rates point to further growth ahead
- Figure 6: Home improvement participation, 2020-22
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- Figure 7: Home improvement enjoyment, 2020-22
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- Figure 8: Home improvement skill, 2020-22
- Participation rates point to further growth ahead
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Market Factors
- A seller’s market drove an interest in fixer-uppers
- Figure 9: Average US home price, 2018-22 (Jan-July)
- High interest rates motivated additional trading down
- Figure 10: Historical 30-year fixed mortgage rates, 2013-22 (rates in November each year)
- The influence of economic factors is complex
- Figure 11: Change in approach to home projects due to economic conditions, 2022
- A greater appreciation for home is likely permanent
- Figure 12: Change in appreciation for the home and lifestyle since the pandemic (any agree), 2022
- A seller’s market drove an interest in fixer-uppers
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Competitive Strategies and Market Opportunities
- Sales growth is slowing, but still robust
- Home Depot’s courting of pros pays off
- Big box home improvement stores are partnering with delivery services
- Figure 13: Lowe’s is working with Instacart for same-day delivery, 2022
- Home Depot uses QR codes for in-store digital engagement
- Figure 14: An example of Home Depot’s product-relevant QR codes, 2021
- Ace targets Millennials with an expansion from maintenance to renovation
- Figure 15: As part of its “Some Day” campaign, Ace teaches how to paint without tape, 2022
- Visualization tools continue to evolve
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- Figure 16: Magic Plan and Holosite, 2022
- Tool companies (gradually) reach out to women
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- Figure 17: DeWALT power tool advertisement, 2022
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The Home Improvement Consumer – Fast Facts
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DIY Participation, Enjoyment and Skills
- A growing number of consumers are engaged in DIY work
- Figure 18: Home improvement participation, 2020-22
- Female DIYers are a growth opportunity
- Figure 19: Home improvement participation, gender and generation, 2022
- Start with representation, move on to enablement
- Figure 20: DIY skill level, by gender, 2022
- As the costs grow, income is a more critical indicator of engagement
- Figure 21: Home improvement participation, by income, 2022
- As consumers get their feet wet, enjoyment grows
- Figure 22: Home improvement enjoyment, 2020-22
- Younger, wealthier consumers most enjoy home improvement
- Figure 23: Home improvement enjoyment, by age and income, 2022
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- Figure 24: Consumers who have done interior décor updates, by income, 2022
- There’s a relationship between enjoyment and skill
- Figure 25: DIY skill level, 2020-22
- A growing number of consumers are engaged in DIY work
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Projects Undertaken: DIY vs. Professionals
- Increasing consumer expertise reduces use of pros
- Figure 26: Home improvement projects undertaken, DIY vs. professionals, 2022
- Women in domestic partnerships undertake a wider variety of projects
- Figure 27: DIY home improvement projects undertaken, by gender, marital and homeownership status, 2022
- Promote décor as a gateway to other home improvement work
- Figure 28: Home improvement tasks done by single homeowners, by gender, 2022
- Increasing consumer expertise reduces use of pros
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Reasons for Home Improvement
- Form and function get equal attention
- Figure 29: Reasons for DIY home improvement, 2022
- Young consumers undertake DIY to learn
- Figure 30: Consumers who undertake DIY home improvement to improve their skills, by gender and age, 2022
- Form and function get equal attention
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Home Improvement Behaviors and Attitudes
- Consumers understand the importance of planning
- Figure 31: Home improvement behaviors, 2022
- Plunk computes the ROI of DIY
- Figure 32: Plunk renovation ROI app, 2022
- DIY is fertile ground for influencer growth
- Figure 33: Flippinggorgeous on TikTok, 2022
- Figure 34: Consumers who watch DIY demonstration videos, by age, 2022
- Help consumers overcome DIY barriers
- Figure 35: Attitudes toward improving the home, 2022
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- Figure 36: Attitudes toward improving the home, by age and gender, 2022
- Increasing material costs could deter first-time home buyers
- Figure 37: Cost is a barrier to DIY home improvement, by income, 2022
- Consumers understand the importance of planning
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Influence of the Changing Economic Environment
- The economic environment will limit market growth
- Figure 38: The impact of economic factors, 2022
- Younger consumers are most tapped into secondhand material markets
- Figure 39: Use of secondhand home improvement markets, by age and income, 2022
- The economic environment will limit market growth
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Appendix – Data Sources and Abbreviations
- Data sources
- Consumer survey data
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
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