Home Improvement Financing Insights

Yes. Homeowners who use financing spend nearly three times more per project than those who do not, $12,500 compared with $4,250 in the most recent quarter. HIRI's Home Improvement Financing Insights report finds that financing does not simply change how a homeowner pays for a project already planned. It expands what the homeowner can afford to take on in the first place. Homeowners who finance also carry lower net worth than those who do not, though their household income is about the same, which points to financing serving people with steady income and less accumulated savings, not lower earners overall. HIRI's Quarterly US Homeowner Project Activity Tracker provides the underlying data on project spend and payment method behind this finding.

Contractors who arrange financing more often report stronger revenue growth than those who do not. HIRI's Home Improvement Financing Insights report finds this growth advantage holds even though financing does not correlate with a higher bid win rate. The likely explanation is that financing helps a contractor land bigger jobs rather than more jobs. Small contractors arrange financing on far fewer jobs than large contractors, 44% compared with 87%, which points to small contractors as an underserved group for financial services partners. HIRI's Quarterly Contractor Business Sentiment Tracker provides the underlying contractor-reported data behind this finding.