The Burrow
Nov 26, 2024
We all want a place to live that we can feel proud of. Whether it’s the home you’ve made your own, or the surrounding environment, nobody wants to live somewhere that makes them feel ashamed, embarrassed, or uncomfortable to be in. That’s why many homeowners renovate their properties to reflect their personal styles!
It takes a lot of time and money to make a home that you can be proud of. As home loan comparison experts, we conducted a survey to see how the world views their homes, as well as how they finance them.
Our findings show that 82% of Americans and 83% of Australians we surveyed feel proud about their homes – leaving nearly 20% of respondents not happy with their living situation.
Read on for a breakdown of our findings, and for advice to help you feel as house proud as some of our survey respondents!
Everyone has different priorities when it comes to their homes, but one answer came out far ahead when we asked homeowners what their top reasons for feeling proud were. Across both Americans and Australians, more than two thirds of people said that the comfort of their home was the main factor that made them and their families proud.
Roughly 50% of people said their neighbourhood was a primary factor, while cleanliness and home improvement successes also ranked highly in both countries. 60% of Australians said that they cleaned their houses on a weekly basis, while 23% of Americans said they did it daily!
Australian homeowners were more likely to say their interior design reflects their sense of style, while more Americans prioritised the exterior appeal of their homes.
In contrast, the top reason for feeling embarrassed about homes in both countries was maintenance issues, such as peeling paint, electrical problems, and plumbing issues – a whopping 83% of our Australian survey participants said they experienced this.
The next biggest issues were unkempt outdoor areas for Americans (affecting 38%) and outdated décor for Australians (affecting 67%). Our studies also showed that American women were three to four times more likely than men to be ashamed by décor and gardening issues.
When it comes to making renovations, Americans redecorate their homes much more often than Australian homeowners, according to our statistics.
More than half of Americans said that they refresh their interior design at least once a year, while 12% change it monthly. Comparatively, 38% of Australians have an annual refresh, and a quarter of respondents said they renovate every five years or less!
We also asked how often homeowners watched home renovation TV shows every week, with Australians averaging about an hour and a half, and American homeowners watching three hours. Incidentally, our research reveals the state that spends the longest watching home improvement shows is Washington, reporting a staggering 15 hours a week on average – nearly double the amount of Vermont in second place (8 hours/week)!
The average Australian homeowner spends $5,522 AUD on renovations every year, compared to $4,639 USD ($7,030 AUD) for Americans. The US region with the highest annual cost was California, with the Golden State spending almost double the national average at $8,814 USD ($13,357 AUD) per year! Staggeringly, one in ten Americans reported spending more than $10,000 USD on home renovations annually.
With prices often being so steep, homeowners have to consider a range of ways to finance their improvements. The most common way to cover the costs is through personal savings. Two thirds of Australians, and just under half of Americans paid for their renovations this way.
Surprisingly, Australian homeowners’ second most popular choice was refinancing their mortgage (16%), which was the least popular option for Americans (10%)! However, 18–24-year-olds in America are much more likely to choose this than any other age group.
American respondents reported that they’re more likely to finance renovations with their credit cards, with just over a quarter of homeowners making payments this way. Compared to only 9% of Australians who have used credit cards for redecorating.
Loans also proved to be common options; 1 in 5 Americans took out personal loans for their home improvements, and 15% used home equity loans. Meanwhile, 1 in 10 Australian homeowners used each respectively. Just 6% of Australians took out renovation-specific loans compared to 12% of Americans.
If you’re feeling inspired by our “house proud” survey participants, or you’re looking to move somewhere new, General Manager of Money at Compare the Market, Stephen Zeller, talked about how refinancing a home loan can be a useful way to fund renovations.
“Home renovations are a great way to breathe life into an old home, and spruce up a space, making it a great alternative to moving home and spending lots of money on solicitors’ fees and moving.
“If you’re considering updating your home and making some improvements – whether it’s investing in new quality flooring or turning your garden into a sociable space with an outdoor kitchen – refinancing your home loan can help to pay for it.
“This allows you to borrow additional money to pay for renovations, extend the length of your loan, and potentially move to a loan with a better interest rate or other useful features like redraw facilities or offset accounts.
“Your loan will be bigger if you’ve borrowed more to renovate, but it will help you pay for revamping your home while keeping the funds altogether in one loan for you to pay off. Personal loans can help provide an injection of cash but come with much higher interest rates on repayments.”
Compare the Market AU surveyed 1,000 Australian and 750 American respondents. Both surveys were conducted by 3Gem in October 2024.