Company News

Houzz Inc​, the world’s leading platform for home renovation anddesign, today released the 2019 Houzz AU State of the Industry. The report provides an outlookon 2019 and a review of 2018 performance for residential renovation and design businesses,including architects, interior designers and contractors, based on data reported by nearly 300professionals in the Houzz Australia community. The study revealed that a majority of firmsacross the industry are optimistic about business growth in 2019, following positive 2018 results.

Nearly three-quarters of the industry anticipates that gross revenue will increase in 2019 (74percent). In fact, more than half of businesses expect that revenue will grow by more than 10percent (58 percent). Interior designers have the most confident view of 2019, with 84 percent offirms anticipating an increase in gross revenue, followed by home builders and buildingdesigners (73 and 47 percent, respectively). To support revenue growth, firms plan to increasemarketing and sales efforts and bring in larger budget projects (60 and 46 percent,respectively).

“Residential construction and design service professionals in Australia are gearing up foranother robust year,” said Nino Sitchinava, Houzz principal economist. “Positive expectationsfollow overall revenue growth in 2018 despite headwinds in managing consumer concerns overcost and unreasonable expectations”.

Positive expectations for the year ahead follow a successful 2018 for firms across the industry,with more than two-thirds of businesses reporting that gross revenue met or exceededexpectations (69 percent). In fact, actual gross revenue increased by 10 percent or more fornearly half of businesses (45 percent). Interior designers saw the largest increase, with nearlyhalf of businesses reporting that gross revenues grew by 15 percent or more from the year prior(45 percent).

Revenue growth was not without its challenges, led by increased cost of doing business(overhead, wages, etc.), managing consumer concerns over cost and managing consumerexpectations (30, 29 and 27 percent, respectively). That said, one-third of businesses were ableto expand and hire new employees (32 percent). Home builders were the most likely to increaseheadcount (50 percent), followed by interior designers and building designers (24 and eightpercent, respectively).

The full 2019 Houzz AU State of the Industry report can be found ​here​.

There are more than 2.3 million active home renovation and design professionals on Houzzglobally, including ​architects​, ​interior designers​, ​home builders​ and ​design and constructionfirms​.

The Houzz AU State of the Industry Study was conducted among home renovation firms in theHouzz Australia community that offer services related primarily to residential renovation and/ordesign. The study was fielded in December 2018 and January 2019. N=273.

About Houzz
Houzz is the leading platform for home renovation and design, providing people with everythingthey need to improve their homes from start to finish – online or from a mobile device. Fromdecorating a small room to building a custom home and everything in between, Houzz connectsmillions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals acrossthe country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world anda vibrant community empowered by technology, Houzz is the easiest way for people to findinspiration, get advice, buy products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideasinto reality. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., Houzz also has international offices in London,Berlin, Sydney, Moscow, Tel Aviv and Tokyo. Houzz and the Houzz logo are registeredtrademarks of Houzz Inc. worldwide. For more information, visit ​houzz.com.au​.