Mortgage rates have skyrocketed to their highest levels in nearly 15 years, but most households currently on 15- and 30-year mortgage payment plans are at rates below 5%. Understandably, those homeowners are opting not to sell and refinance at today’s inflated interest rates. Instead, many would-be sellers are staying put and remodeling.
Today’s homeowners are experiencing a much higher than average annual home appreciation of 17%, and that equity is being used to finance renovation projects including updated home offices, improved indoor air quality, and clean energy retrofits, Forbes reports.
Companies across the country are shutting down offices, pushing people back into their homes for the daily office grind. So, homeowners are looking at ways to renovate to create quiet, calm, technology-enhanced spaces to work.
Second, the pandemic also drove households to think about their home can impact their health. So, remodeling projects centered around health and wellness, including indoor air quality, are becoming more frequent. Research from Chrissi Antonopoulos, a senior energy analyst at Pacific Northwest National Labs, shows that many of the motivators for home improvement projects are quality of life based.
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