'Fur Babies' Drive Home ImprovementsBy Brian Horowitz, Research Survey Analyst, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Sixty-one percent of U.S. households have an animal or plan to get one in the future and 99 percent of owners feel that their animal is part of their family. In the Animal House: Remodeling Impact report, animal owners share their experiences of renovating their homes to enhance the lives of their pets. With animals being so prevalent in family structure, it is unsurprising that nearly half of all consumer respondents (52 percent) completed home renovations to accommodate their animal. Of those that undertook a remodeling project, the most popular projects included: building a fenced yard (23 percent): adding a dog door (12 percent); and installing laminate flooring (10 percent).
When consumers undertook a remodeling project, they reported an overall joy score of 9.4 on all renovations. Of the three most popular renovation projects, a fenced yard had a 9.4 joy score, laminate flooring had a 9.4 score and dog door was reported as 9.2. Of these three projects, 78 percent of consumers felt that a fenced yard was important, 76 percent laminate flooring and 25 percent found a dog door to be important. There was a steady increase between income and renovating a home for the benefit of an animal. Sixty-three percent of those who make $250,000 renovated their home. In comparison, only 46 percent of those making less than $49,999 renovated their home. Looking at household demographics, 53 percent of single male and unmarried couples renovated their home, followed by 52 percent of married couples and 47 percent of single females. Of the consumer respondents who completed a renovation, 44 percent hired a professional to do their project and 56 percent did a renovation themselves. Seventy-one percent of single males did the animal renovation themselves and 52 percent of single females hired a professional to do the renovation. Amongst married couples, 42 percent hired a professional and 58 percent did it themselves. Thirty-five percent of those who make less than $49,999 did the project themselves. In comparison, 71 percent of those who made $250,000 or more hired a professional. Consumers shared that they were both satisfied and felt a sense of accomplishment when they remodeled their home to accommodate their animals. Of those who completed a project, 94 percent of consumers were satisfied with their renovation. When consumers undertook a remodeling project to accommodate their animals, eight out of 10 felt a sense of accomplishment when they hired a professional. That number jumped to nine in 10 when consumers completed a project themselves. Consumers' high joy score, sense of satisfaction and accomplishment is not only the indicator of attitudes towards animal renovations. Additionally, 58 percent reported having a greater desire to be at home and 62 percent enjoy spending more time at home since completing their renovation. In addition to home renovations, this report also explores home considerations for animal buyer and renters and selling advice to animal owners. For more information, see the full the report here; additional topics on this report will be discussed here. Brian Horowitz is a research survey analyst for the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. |