HomeStars – News and Updates

Lowe’s survey: more Canadians to renovate thanks to Home Renovation Tax Credit

Lowe’s Canada and Angus Reid Strategies conducted a survey about whether or not Canadians were going to take advantage of the Home Renovation Tax Credit. The short answer is almost half of home owners will renovate their home in some fashion.

If you haven’t been around for the last little while, last week the Federal Budget was announced and it included a short-term tax credit of up to 15% for a maximum of $1350 for home renovation projects. For a list of what’s included and what’s not, see the Federal Budget. Brian also talks about it in his post here.

The Lowe’s Canada survey found:

Despite the economic climate, Canadians are still willing to invest in their homes — with 47 per cent of Canadians planning to renovate in the next twelve months. Of this group, nearly two-thirds (63%) say they will spend up to $5,000 on home renovations in the next year. Overall, Canadian renovators plan to spend the following on their project(s):
Less than $1,000 (9%)
$1,000 – $ 2,500 (28%)
$2,501 – $5,000 (26%)
$5,001 – $7,500 (11%)
$7,501 – $10,000 (10%)
More than $10,000 (16%)

Further,

64 per cent of Canadians are undertaking home renovation projects for personal/family enjoyment. Other key survey insights include:
12 per cent of Canadians are undertaking home renovations to add value to their homes for resale purposes
11 per cent of Canadians are undertaking home renovations this year as a way to improve energy efficiency within the home

The most popular renovations projects will be:

…a fresh coat of paint (41%) to renovating bathrooms (32%) and kitchens (28%).

Top renovation projects include:
Painting the interior/exterior of their home (41%)
Renovating their bathroom (32%)
Renovating their kitchen (28%)
Installing new carpet or hardwood floors (26%)
Installing new windows (21%)
Building an addition, deck, fence or retaining wall (20%) 

 

If you’re planning a renovation project, don’t forget to check our directory of trades and consumer reviews to find the right company to do your work.

ABOUT THE LOWE’S CANADA SURVEY:
From February 2 to February 3, 2009, Angus Reid Strategies conducted an online survey among 1,003 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

Posted by CathyR