Do you ever wonder how your own behaviours and expenditures as a home owner stack up to the norm?

According to a report released by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), approximately 1.7 million households across 10 major city centres spent almost $21.3 billion on renovations to their primary residence in 2008.  About 35 percent of households spent $1,000 or more on these renovations.

Other highlights from the survey include:

 *  The most popular reno was painting or wallpapering a room, with 28% of those who renovated stating they had undertaken this type of renovation in 2008.  Remodelling a room or installing wall to wall carpeting or hard surface flooring came a close second at 27 percent.

· Of those households who renovated in 2008, about 75% did alterations and improvements to their homes, 46 percent did maintenance and repairs.  The survey further noted 19% completed both maintenance and repairs and alterations and improvements in 2008.

· The main reason for renovating given by the renovating respondents was that they wanted to add value, update or to prepare their home for selling.  Second most popular was that the dwelling needed to be repaired.

· Renovating to increase energy efficiency was popular in Halifax and Ottawa in 2008.

· The majority of those households who renovated, hired a contractor to do all of the work (39%);  while 30% did the work themselves or with help of family/friends and approximately 25% both hired a contract and did some of the work themselves.

· Of the homeowners surveyed across the 10 major centres, an average of $12,600 was spent on renovations, which is down approximately $200 from 2007. 

· The survey found that householders living in older homes spend more on renovations.  $20,000 on average was spent on renos to home built between 1921-1945, while in newer homes built between 2006-2008 spent around $7,500

· Of the renovating households, 46% stayed on budget with their renovation costs, while 38% went over budget.

· Close to half (46%) of all homeowners included in this survey indicated having an intention to undertake home renos of more than $1,000 in 2009.  This is more than the number of households who DID undertake renos in 2008 (35%.)

• The number one method of paying for renovations in 2008 was from savings (almost 75%) as opposed to around 26% using credit cards or lines of credit.