Poll | Towards another record year in renovations

The scarcity of materials, the shortage of labor and the rise in prices do not seem to want to discourage Quebecers from undertaking renovation work, according to the results of a survey carried out last December and unveiled on Tuesday. The year 2022 promises to be as effervescent as 2021, when the industry reached unprecedented heights.

Posted at 8:00 a.m.

Isabelle Morin

Isabelle Morin
The Press

Two-thirds (66%) of those surveyed believe they are likely or very likely to spend at least $5,000 on their renovation project within three years, and just under half (42%) plan to do so from 2022. The work planned is often major: three-quarters will unlock an average budget of $21,000, according to this survey of 1,000 Quebec homeowners on behalf of the APCHQ, RénoAssistance and Desjardins.

“The planned expenditures are quite substantial. I think it’s a market that will remain very, very active. We are still awaiting the results of the expenses incurred in 2021 for the renovation, but we are heading for incredible growth, according to the director of the economic department of the APCHQ, Paul Cardinal, who estimates this amount at $18.7 billion in Quebec. for the year that is ending. This is an absolute record”. The results will also be dazzling for 2022, he predicts, or 17 billion dollars, despite the possible increases in interest rates and the price of materials.

Reasons for improving your home

We want above all to renovate for aesthetic reasons (65%), but also to maintain (45%) or repair our home (40%), reveals the survey carried out on the web by the firm Ad Hoc. As for energy-efficient considerations, they would motivate one in four people.

“When the resale market is doing very well, people renovate. New homeowners invest an average of $16,000 to make their new home their own. But people are also spending more time at home, so of course they want to have a nice interior. Many have also been able to redirect their vacation and outing budgets towards renovations,” analyzes Paul Cardinal. These conditions combined with historically low interest rates have helped make 2021 a buoyant year for renovation, he notes.

Unsurprisingly, renovating the bathroom (28%) and the kitchen (26%) ranks at the top of interior renovation intentions, followed by the basement in 12% of cases. An equal number of respondents want to improve the heating or air conditioning of their home, if not its insulation.

The exterior of the residence is also in the sights of Quebecers. A budget of approximately $22,000 is set aside on average for the repair or construction of a balcony, patio or terrace (37% of cases) or for work that relate to landscaping, exterior cladding, doors and windows or roofing (25%).

Despite an undeniable enthusiasm for renovation, one in five resists for budgetary reasons. The rise in the cost of materials is a brake for 16% of them.

In the current market context, should we go ahead or wait to renovate? To be read in the Inspiration notebook of The Pressthis Saturday, February 12.


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