Fancy a pizza oven? The latest renovation trends
Rising prices for properties across Australia’s capital cities are helping to fuel a push by home owners to extend or renovate.
Spacemaker Home Extensions director John Gaffney believes the additions and renovations market “is very solid across Australia”, in part because home owners are using the increased value of their properties to fund improvements.
• Why big is not always better when buying property
• How boomers will change the property market
• The pros and cons of open for inspections
“The serious reason as to why people are choosing to upgrade their current home is the significant equity they have realised over the past two years,” Mr Gaffney says.
Renovations often involve the break-up of the old kitchen area.
“A typical home in the inner suburbs worth $750,000 in 2011 in Melbourne is now approaching the $1,000,000 mark, and thus home owners can take up that increase in equity by swelling their mortgage, provided they can service the larger loan and have confidence in keeping their job.”
Mr Gaffney says the most common projects range from “the classic ground floor extension to the full ground floor refurbishment combined with a first floor extension”.
And the former Housing Industry Association Victorian executive director says Australians’ love affair with alfresco dining and casual living is being reflected in makeovers which include functional yet stylish indoor-outdoor living set-ups.
He says this type of his extension or renovation often involves the break-up of the old kitchen area and the addition of another 80sqm to 100sqm of open-plan family/living/dining room “right across the back of the home”.
“This modern approach to casual living is most sought after as it is the way most families now prefer to live,” Mr Gaffney says. “These large casual living spaces quite often open on to an alfresco area which can be as simple as a timber deck with a open pergola roof to the ultimate alfresco, which is more like an additional room, with full-blown cooking and washing-up facilities.”
Home renovators are loving high-end alfresco areas.
The Spacemaker chief says these outdoor areas are increasingly being fitted out with wood or gas-fired heaters “so even in a cold snap people can enjoy the fresh air”.
“In recent times the pizza oven has also begun to adorn this area as people strive to create a more casual eating and entertaining lifestyle,” Mr Gaffney says. “It is fair to say the dining room our parents had is slowly disappearing.”
Apart from the reshaping of rear living areas in a home, the most common ground floor addition/renovation involves the installation of extra bedrooms as well as a study space for children and a “workable” bathroom and separate toilet arrangement.
“Mum and dad are mostly tending to upgrade their bedroom downstairs with the addition of a fancy en suite, and locate themselves away from the kids for harmony for all,” Mr Gaffney says.
He points out that the “most simple” renovations tend to occur in the kitchen and bathroom.
“No expense is spared in ripping out daggy tiles and replacing them with fancy and practical splashbacks,” Mr Gaffney says.
“As part of this process new kitchens are fitted with all new cabinetry, with soft closing drawers and high quality finishes to all cupboards. Benchtops are stone or reconstituted stone in the main because they are durable and very easily keep clean. Every new kitchen needs a new oven and cooktop and rangehood together with a dishwasher. These items are all price driven with an enormous range of products suitable for every budget.”
This story was brought to you by The New Daily using data and other information from its real estate content partner, realestateVIEW.com.au