Home Repair Spending Lags In Southern States

Southern homeowners are less likely to spend money on home maintenance than those in other regions of the U.S., the Bureau of the Census notes.

The South contains a relatively large number of mobile homes, newly built homes and lower income households, all groups with lower rates of maintenance and improvements, according to the Bureau. However, due to its large size, the Southern region had the largest number of households paying for either maintenance or home improvements.

Maintenance and home improvements are an important part of home ownership. However, all repair jobs are not created equal, the report maintains. For example, roofing repairs get done regardless of income, while other repairs are more of an option.

Other highlights:

/ Those living in their homes for at least two years, but less than six, comprise one of the largest home improvement markets.

/ Owners of homes built between 1970-1984 are more likely to do maintenance than those in homes built either before or after that period.

/ Owners of homes built since 1989 are less likely to spend money for either maintenance or improvements than those in homes built prior ro 1990.

/ Single-family detached houses dominate maintenance and improvement activities, accounting for 9l%o of the most expensive improvements ($9,997 or more) and 86Vo of the maintenance costing $5,000 or more.

/ In a one-person household, women, regardless of age, are less likely than men to be do-it-yourselfers.

/ One-person households are less likely to spend money on home improvements (38Vo vs. 47Vo). Men living alone are as likely as women to pay for improvements.

/ Homeowners between 45 and 64 years spend more per household on home improvements than any other age group.

/ Larger homes are linked to more expensive home improvement and maintenance. Homes of 1,775 sq. ft. (the median size of single-family detached homes and mobile homes) or more account for 60Vo of the most expensive home improvements and miuntenance costs.

/ Mobile home owners spent $837 on improvements while single-family detached home owners spent $2,190.

Olympic Promo Goes Thud

Olympic Games sponsor Home Depot was confident $35 engraved bricks would be a hot Chrisftnas gift, but so far the promotion has gone over like a ton of bricks. Stores have sold about 100,000 bricks, less than 57o ofthose available.

Olympic officials hoped to raise $15 million through sales of bricks, which will be engraved with the buyer's name and placed in the plazas and walkways of a $50 million park in Columbus, Ga.

Home Depot needs to sell 1.9 million more bricks to make its goal of a spring sellout. The chain is selling 2,000 to 3,000 bricks a day, with sales increasing 3OVo each week. Sales should be spurred by the March groundbreaking for the park, followed by the installation ofthe first bricks.

When the program was launched Nov. 4, Depot executives assumed the bricks would sell themselves as holiday gift items and did little advertising.

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