Home reno breaks up cycle
Exclusive Meilin Chew
West Australians have opened their wallets to get their homes in order during the pandemic, new data reveals, but spending on services shut by COVID-19 measures have plunged.
The Bankwest Spend Trends report has revealed four of the top five growth sectors during April 15 to April 21 related to home makeovers.
The top five included furniture stores, where turnover growth rose by 42 per cent, special trades, which was up 34 per cent, nurseries (56 per cent) and hardware stores (32 per cent). Bicycle shops continued to hold top spot at 92 per cent.
Special trades had a heavy slant on home improvement, with a large uptick for truck and construction equipment, cranes, guards and fencing, along with glaziers and antenna services.
Bankwest chief customer officer Paul Vivian said the analysis showed a rise in spending on “growth in purchases is definitely around making sure the home is in good order,” he said, “but it shows how West Aussies are keen to keep fit and active and occupied while spending increased time at home.
“Bicycle shops have maintained top position with a 92 per cent growth from April 15-21, but owner of North Perth-based Cycles Bespoke, Wayne Evans, said the past six weeks had been the busiest he had ever experienced in his store.
“For the last five weeks, the shop has had an unprecedented massive shortage of bikes.” The Bankwest analysis also showed the businesses most hard hit by the coronavirus was also unchanged. Amusement parks and miscellaneous recreation services continued to lead the top five in percentage decline, along with travel agents, candy and confectionery, and health and beauty, which were all down 89 per cent or more.
A lull after Easter was probably to be expected, but it’s still difficult to say when it will come back to normal, given it was down 87 per cent over the same period last year,” Mr. Vivian said.
Perth-based financial adviser Liz Rae said the pandemic had influenced spending habits of her clients.
“Most of them are tightening the purse strings, either cutting out customers because they have less coming in, or they’re holding it,” she said.
Those that were considering a large renovation or purchasing a new car are opting to hold off, even if their income has been fairly unaffected by COVID-19.
“Many clients have been taking money out of their offsets, so they’re either doing small renovations or something like DIY or Uber Eats, for those larger purchases they’re waiting, rather than entering into big loans that would eat into their savings buffer.”
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