Press Info
< Back

Company News

17 May 2018
A Banner Year for Australian Home Renovation Professionals, Houzz Study Finds
Outlook for 2018 remains strong despite increasing business costs, according to the 2018 Houzz Australian State of the Industry


Sydney, 17 May 2018 - Houzz Inc, the world’s leading platform for home renovation and design, today released the 2018 Houzz Australia State of the Industry. The report provides an overview of 2017 performance and an outlook on 2018 for residential renovation and design businesses based on data reported by nearly 400 professionals in the Houzz Australia community. The study revealed that 2017 was a strong year for the majority of firms across the industry, with over two-thirds having met or exceeded gross revenue expectations for the year (70 percent).

More than two-thirds of businesses also reported an increase in gross revenue in 2017 relative to 2016 (70 percent), with over half of those reporting that revenues increased by more than 10 percent (53 percent). Interior designers were most likely to have seen revenue gains relative to 2016 (76 percent), followed by home build and architecture firms (both 73%).

Increases in revenue were not without challenges. More than a third of business reported challenges managing customer concern over cost (35 percent), along with difficulty finding prospective customers and a surge in the cost of doing business in 2017 (26 percent each). Additional costs of doing business were felt most significantly by architecture firms and home builders (28 percent and 27 percent, respectively).

“Renovation business revenues have surpassed expectations for another consecutive year,” said Nino Sitchinava, principal economist at Houzz. “The overall outlook for 2018 remains optimistic as well, despite businesses managing strong demand in the face of significant constraints in the form of rising product and material costs and managing customer concerns over costs.”

Looking Forward to 2018

Despite an eight percentage point increase in renovation professionals who anticipate a rise in the cost of doing business in 2018 (58 versus 51 percent in 2017), the majority of businesses are optimistic about continued gross revenue growth (78 percent). Home build firms are most bullish in their expectations for increased gross revenue in 2018 (81 percent), followed by architecture firms and interior designers (74 and 73 percent, respectively). To support that growth, firms plan to invest in more marketing (59 percent) and bring in larger budget projects (54 percent). Other common strategies include improving customer experience (43 percent), increasing prices (38 percent) and hiring new employees (34 percent). Company headcounts are expected to rise in 2018 for half of home build firms (50 percent), two in five architecture firms (41 percent) and a fifth of interior designers (19 percent).

The full 2018 Houzz Australia State of the Industry report can be found here.

There are more than 1.5 million active home renovation and design professionals on Houzz, including architects, interior designers and decorators, home builders and design and construction.

The Houzz Australia State of the Industry Study was conducted among home renovation firms in the Houzz Australia community that offer services related primarily to residential renovation and/or design. The study was fielded in December 2017 and January 2018. N=389.

About Houzz

Houzz is the leading platform for home renovation and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish – online or from a mobile device. From decorating a small room to building a custom home and everything in between, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community empowered by technology, Houzz is the easiest way for people to find inspiration, get advice, find products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideas into reality. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., Houzz also has international offices in London, Berlin, Sydney, Moscow, Tel Aviv and Tokyo. Houzz is a registered trademark of Houzz Inc. worldwide. For more information, visit www.houzz.com.au.