A nationwide poll of nearly 1,750 remodelers and home improvement specialists released today indicates the industry expects higher revenues and high confidence about getting new business despite some concerns over hiring skilled workers.
The results are part of the inaugural HomeAdvisor Farnsworth Index, a new quarterly survey created by HomeAdvisor, the home services marketplace, and The Farnsworth Group, a market research firm.
This first index is based on an online survey of pros conducted in February that drew 1,744 respondents. The contractors work in any of 13 business categories, including remodeling, K+B, painting, plumbing, electrical work, roofing, exterior projects, flooring, fencing, landscaping, and HVAC.
Respondents gave an average 8.8 score on a 10-point scale when asked how confident they were to get new business in the next six months. Brad Hunter, HomeAdvisor’s chief economist, said 55% of the participants gave a “10” to that question. In general, exterior home improvement firms were most confident, and general remodelers the least.
And here’s what participants said about revenues, hiring, and revenue per project:
The biggest contingent predicting growth looked to increases of 11% to 20% this year, Hunter said, while the next-biggest group forecast increases of 21% to 30%.
A majority of firms polled predicted they could have increased business by 11% to 20% last year if they had had more staff. Despite their problems hiring, respondents scored 6.7 on a 10-point scale when asked how confident they were that they could hire enough labor over the next 12 months, and a low 5.6 regarding the impact labor costs would have on their business.
Good feelings about the economy prevailed over negative views, scoring a 6.6. And prospects over the impact of government policies and regs and on high interest rates got just 5.1 points each.