Money:Canadians outstrip U.S. in home reno projects: RBC

By QMI Agency

Last Updated: October 27, 2010 7:39am

Canadians were much more likely to have completed a home improvement project over the past two years than property owners south of the border, spurred to action by the government’s home renovation tax credit, an RBC poll found.

The bank’s seventh RBC Renovation Poll found 66% of homeowners had completed a renovation in the past two years. That compares with just half of home owners surveyed in the U.S., it said.

The home renovation tax credit, introduced as part of the Ottawa’s plans to stimulate the economy expired in January. The credit sparked a boom in housing projects and spurred demand for paints, furnishing and other related products.

Those figures are likely to go into reverse in the next two years when the number of reno intentions in Canada will slip by four percentage points to 62%, while those in the U.S. rise to 67%.

American homeowners however plan to spend less than their Canadian counterparts at $9,800 versus $10,796.

The RBC survey found that of the Canadian reno projects only half came in on budget, with 28% saying the excess costs were the biggest regret with the upgrade.

“Canadians continue to consider any home improvement as a very good investment but the challenge with renovating is that it’s easy to keep adding on projects,” said Patricia Everingham, director of RBC Personal Lending. “Costs can mount up easily and the next thing you know you’re over budget and behind schedule.”

More than half of renovators either used cash or savings to pay for the upgrades and a third managed to pay off any extra within a month.

Of those still paying, 41% said it will take more than a year to pay it off.

The poll was carried out by Ipsos Reid between Sept. 17-22, 2010. The online survey is based on a randomly selected representative sample of 3,565 Canadian and 3,205 U.S. homeowners of whom 2,156 Canadian and 2,090 U.S. homeowners plan to renovate within the next two years.