An Australian website claims to have tracked a surge in people seeking home improvement services from architects and designers due to a popular television series.
Local services marketplace Oneflare.com.au says data revealed a ‘sudden’ and ‘huge surge’ in demand for design and trades services as channel Seven’s House Rules went to air in April 2014.
The company reports that in May of this year:
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Job postings for interior designers rose by 48 per cent
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Requests for kitchen renovations rose 35 per cent in May
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Job postings for bathroom renovations rose by 30 per cent
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Requests for architects rose by 28 per cent.
In May, we reported on widely-held industry expectation that residential alterations and additions activity is on the rise across Australia.
The volume of activity in residential renovations fell in 2012/13 to $28.3 billion, which Housing Industry Association (HIA) researchers declared a low point for the sector. Activity was expected to expand about two per cent in 2013/14, with further increases to occur each year until 2017/18, bringing the value of renovations to $32.6 billion.
Speaking about the Oneflare data, CEO Marcus Lim said: “Usually there’s a relatively steady amount of jobs in each service category, like people searching for cleaners, plumbers, and electricians. But in April of this year, we were baffled as to why there was a sudden jump in people posting home improvement jobs specifically.
“When we looked into it further, we realised there was a link between when the House Rules show went to air and our job request data. It suggests that TV shows can serve as inspiration as well as entertainment.”
The consumer-facing website is connected to 40,000 home services businesses, recorded an upswing in home improvement related job postings. Its renovation and design planning tool, Oneflare Scrapbooks also experienced a spike in traffic.
