Consumers in Southwest Florida spent a record $1.3 billion on home improvements in 2019. This level of spending is projected to drop modestly next year, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
“Declining home sales and home-building activity coupled with slower gains in permitting for improvement projects will put the brakes on remodeling growth,” says Chris Herbert, the center’s managing director.
“However, if falling mortgage interest rates continue to incentivize home sales, refinancing, and ultimately remodeling activity, the slowdown may soften some.”
If Fort Myers-Naples area small businesses that sell home improvement products and services would like to continue to grow despite the softening market, then advertising will be required.
“Think you have a great product?” asks the Small Administration. “Unfortunately, no one’s going to know about it unless you advertise.”
The SBA goes on to say, “Advertising, if done correctly, can do wonders for your product sales, and you know what that means: more revenue and more success for your business."
By any metric, the most potent way to reach local consumers in the market for home improvements is on Fort Myers radio.
Every week, Fort Myers radio reaches 91.6% of all consumers planning to invest in a home improvement over the next 12 months. This is significantly more than are reached by local television, newspaper, social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, or streaming audio sites like Pandora or Spotify.
In a recent article in Forbes, economist Brad Hunter writes, "Research conducted at HomeAdvisor while I was there showed that the millennials are doing a greater number of home improvement projects each year than any other age group. This demographic juggernaut is going to drive billions of dollars of home improvement in the coming years as more Millennials become homeowners, and as their incomes and their home equity rise."
In SWFL, 96.6% of millennials tune-in to a Fort Myers radio station every week.
Regardless of how many dollars a home improvement consumer is planning to spend next year, Fort Myers radio reaches more of those consumers than all other advertising media.
It's reach numbers like this that leads Deloitte, the world's largest business consulting firm, to recommend that "radio advertising should be a big part of the mix for those buying advertising."
"Radio’s weekly reach, the percentage of people who listen to radio at least once per week, has been remarkably stable in the United States," says Deloitte. "Not only has reach hovered around 94% for the last few years, but that number is essentially unchanged from the 94.9% percent figure in spring 2001 when Apple introduced the iPod."
How Will SWFL Consumers Spend Home Improvement Dollars?
Based on projections from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, here is how much Southwest Florida consumers will be spending in the largest home improvement categories:
- Room Additions: $99,000,000
- Bathroom Remodeling: $104,000,000
- Kitchen Remodeling: $147,000,000
- Yard and Lot Improvement: $191,000,000
- Systems Replacement: $234,000,000
- Exterior Renovation: $262,000,000
- All Other Improvements: $299,000,000
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