In Your Corner: With sky-high construction costs, should you hold off on your home renovation?
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Spring typically ushers in a wave of purchases for renovation projects, as homeowners make changes to their gardens, front porches and decks.
This year is different. While more than half of Canadians are planning home renovations, a Scotiabank poll finds, prices for construction materials have gone through the roof, making contract work far more expensive than usual.
“Everything from fence board to cabinetry to fibreglass pools have seen big price increases,” says financial expert Jason Heath.
If you can hold off on renovating for a year, do it. You may be rewarded with lower prices, says Heath, though it’s never a guarantee.
Beyond materials, there’s the cost of labour. “Home renovations have increased with so many more people at home and finding projects to do. So, labour costs as well as materials have increased over the past year,” Heath says.
His main advice is to overestimate your costs, and never borrow more than you can afford.
“Interest rates may be low now, but the Bank of Canada recently hinted that inflationary pressures could start to put upwards pressure on rates as early as next year.”
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