The staycation trend has supercharged the renovation industry with workers booked out months in advance as more residents choose to tick off projects around the home.
From a simple fresh coat of paint to kitchen or bathroom upgrades, new pools and full structural renos, the last 12 months has welcomed a “reno-lution”.
Sean Lynch from Pool Fab has recorded a 40 per cent increase in locals enquiring to build a pool on their existing block.
“It’s one of the busiest years I’ve had in my career and it’s because people are staying at home and investing in their own property,” Mr Lynch said.
He said the upfront cost of a pool balanced itself out when compared to a few years’ worth of holidays and added instant value to the property price as well as that “resort” feel.
“I think it’s a two-pronged approach,” he said.
“Property owners are wanting to holiday at home and do those projects they might have been putting off for a while.
“But with the property market being so hot at the moment, that’s also encouraging people to invest in their property because they can see the value.”
With a graduate in environmental science, Mr Lynch is passionate on providing customers with a luxury eco-friendly pool package.
“What we specialise in is these eco smart pool and landscape packages.
“Our speciality is offering these complete turnkey pool and landscape packages so that we design and build the whole project.
“We do it with this eco conscious approach where we use energy efficient pumps and freshwater pools.
“I think when our clients come to us, they want the whole package done and they want someone that is conscious to an eco-responsible approach to the design, the equipment, the materials and the way it’s built.”
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With 20 years in the industry, Mr Lynch said pool designs were specific to each family or the design of their existing home, but trends constantly go in and out of style.
“Styles are relevant to the architecture of a home.
“What’s popular the moment – people are going for these clean lines, very architectural geometric patterns because that’s the way modern architecture is going.
“It’s not the old free-form rock pools that they were in the 80s and 90s.”
Mr Lynch said anyone who wanted a pool installed for Christmas needed to sign contracts this month due to the increase in demand.
“I’ve never closed my books for Christmas in April of any year and I’m about to.”
“We’re telling customers they need to be booking and signing contract in April at the latest to get them by Christmas.”
The renovation trend has also seen an increase in modernised homes hit the market.
With the current sale prices so strong, Next Property Group’s Loren Wimhurst told Sunshine Coast News homeowners had realised they could capitalise on adding value to their homes.
“Before you used to just get back to cost of the reno and sometime less, now some of these renos, they are returning 10 to 20 per cent on their investment,” she said.
“No there is definitely profit in doing it, it’s worth doing it currently.”
Ms Wimhurst said a Mooloolaba home purchased in 2017 for $652,500 could see offers of more than $1.5 million after significant renovations.
She said most newly-renovated homes included bigger kitchens, second living areas and larger gardens.
“They’ve all spent time getting their homes beautiful and the best ones that are received to the market are the ones that have been completely done.”
Ms Wimhurst said a recently renovated property at 348 Main Road, Kuluin was a perfect example of making the most of the existing structure of a home to create a contemporary masterpiece.
“It was an old home, but it had very good bones.”
“It got a real edge to it, it’s really on-trend, it’s really wow.
“It already had a lot of great features like rake ceilings, that if you were to build today would cost too much.”
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