A majority of homeowners surveyed in a recent Discover Home Equity Loans survey indicated plans to renovate their home in the next year or sooner. However, the survey found that only a quarter of respondents planning renovations have saved enough to cover the entire cost of a renovation project.
Of the 52% of respondents planning to make home improvements in the next year, one in four plan to complete a project in the next three months. Two in five respondents indicated planning renovation projects in order to increase the value of their home, with more than a third of respondents planning to update their kitchen and bathroom.
The Discover Home Equity Loans survey reported that nearly two thirds of respondents thought their home renovation project would cost less than $15,000. However, values from the recent Cost vs. Value report indicate that the national average for mid-range bathroom remodel is $20,420 and the national average for a mid-range kitchen remodel is between $22,507 and $66,196. A quarter of respondents indicated they saved enough to fund the entire cost of a planned home improvement project. The share of financially prepared Gen Xers (37%) was higher than both baby boomers (24%) and millennials (27%).
The Discover Home Equity Loan Survey generated results from an online survey distributed to 1,203 homeowners over the age of 21 between September 26, 2018, and October 4, 2018. Discover indicated results were weighted to ensure results were nationally representative for age, gender, and region. The margin of sampling error for final reported numbers was +/- 3 percentage points.
