The housing market in Florida is undergoing a rapid transformation, while places like Tampa, West Palm Beach, and Winter Haven all face a high risk of price declines due to oversupply and hiked-up insurance costs. With these factors in mind, the state’s DIY home improvement sector is predicted to grow to $7.8 billion.
This boom is a counterintuitive one and comes from homeowners changing priorities like property upgrades to lessen financial losses in the real estate market.
Florida’s residents are taking it on themselves to do hands-on renovations such as climate-proofing measures and strategic ways to boost curb appeal in such a saturated market.
How Americans Are Affected
As the housing in Florida takes on a decline, financial pressure is put on everyday residents. Unsold housing stock is increasing to some of the highest numbers ever seen, while foreclosures continue to spike from 250% in December 2023.
Homeowners are finding themselves stuck with property that they can’t afford to sell without taking on massive losses. One in every 267 housing units is now in foreclosure, which is tied to the highest in the nation.
Condo owners aren’t safe either. New safety regulations trigger special assessments, which can sometimes be as high as $100,000 per unit just for mandatory repairs.
Combining Burdens
Mortgage rates are high, and insurance premiums have gone up as well when compared to the national average. All of these burdens have come together to affect all kinds of people living in Florida, including retirees, working families, and even recently moved-in residents.
Many people aren’t sure what to do in this crisis, but others have found important way to mitigate losses – home improvement.
Hiring professionals is often unaffordable, but the DIY route brings down costs while raising their property’s value. When squeezed by financial crises, people find ingenious ways of fighting back.
A DIY Boom
While it would be easy for many to just give up, many Floridians are deciding to take matters into their own hands.
The home improvement sector is expected to skyrocket as countless residents who can’t sell their homes because they owe more than the house is worth or because the market is saturated are deciding to fix up their own properties instead, increasing the overall value.
Additionally, homeowners who face large repair bills after property assessments are learning to do smaller jobs that only require parts and labor themselves, saving themselves a lot of money and keeping it aside for bigger fixes that can’t be avoided.
Financial Strains
The financial strain on Florida residents is a widespread issue. Condo owners, in particular, are facing massive repair costs to their units to cover important structural repairs due to new safety regulations after the Surfside tragedy.
These bills are only the start, as many are facing bigger premiums from insurance companies and higher mortgage rates as well.
With these factors, it’s no wonder that many homeowners are taking their money and reinvesting it into their homes through DIY home improvement, which is a much cheaper alternative during this crisis.
A Large Asset
For many homeowners, they feel that their home is their largest asset. As prices rise and fall, homeowners need to try to keep their property investment viable while it sits on the market for much longer periods of time.
Many are investing in DIY projects to find ways of increasing curb appeal, making a high sale more likely.
Spending on DIY and home furnishings has jumped by nearly 50% during this market downfall, highlighting how willing homeowners are to make further investments into their homes to ensure that their most significant asset stays valuable in a changing market.
Port Charlotte
Port Charlotte was hit particularly hard by multiple hurricanes and subsequently saw a housing downturn. Homes are sitting on the market for longer, and some buyers are desperate enough to sell their homes for upwards of $20,000 below their value.
Clever techniques that residents are employing are cost-effective improvements, such as adding new and relevant hardware, such as electric garage doors, or installing decorative windows.
These small changes may not cost much in the grand scheme of things, but they can really help bump up the value of a house on the market when everything else is lowering in value.
Everyone Is Doing DIY
As DIY demand increases, it no longer becomes a tradition for those on a budget.
Even retirees are taking it on themselves to do repairs out of necessity, and wealthy condo owners who bought during the market’s peak are learning how to DIY to avoid having to sell their investments at a loss.
Even Investors who aren’t able to flip homes for a profit are renovating to convert properties into rentals. DIY is becoming more widespread in the face of harsh conditions when people have to adapt to economic downturns.
DIY Is Easier Than Ever Before
DIY technology is ever evolving and innovating, and the fall of the housing market coincides with many of these innovations.
Many online home improvement stores offer more DIY products than ever before, and are moving to online shopping, where the customer experience has never been smoother. Some stores even offer free workshops and instructional videos for customers to learn more about the home improvement space.
This means that DIY has never been more accessible than right now, with homeowners able to buy professional materials and follow laid-out instructions in order to do their renovations without feeling like they’re fumbling in the dark.
A Silver Lining
While Florida’s housing market slows down, there is a silver lining. The state’s billion-dollar DIY boom has a direct correlation with the challenging housing market.
While many people still struggle, the shift many people are making to the DIY space is giving them invaluable skills and cheaper renovations on their homes when the price of everything else is going up.
Hardships have created a boom, with Florida’s remodeling industry is projected to grow to $7.8 billion over the five years to 2025.
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