Home improvement is booming again

Strap on the tool belt and grab a power drill. More than half (57%) of homeowners have a home improvement project on their to-do list this year. And were not talking minor touchups or a quick coat of paint. More than one-third (36%) of homeowners plan to spend $5,000 or more this year on renovations. And 18% are stepping up and knocking more than $10,000 out of the park to dust off the old home plate, according to a Harris Poll conducted for SunTrust.

The planned projects are near evenly split between home updates (52%) and repairs (49%), with the most popular improvements including:

George Peters/Getty Images Contractors remodeling kitchen

And while in past years tapping a home equity loan was the go-to method to fund such improvements, most consumers (59%) say theyll raid their savings accounts instead. Other homeowners, buoyed with growing confidence in the economy, will pull out their credit cards (30%). Home equity lines of credit are favored by just 9% of those surveyed, while unsecured home improvement loans will fund the projects for 7% of the respondents.

A recent study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University says were entering boom times in home remodeling, with sales approaching $300 billion the highest level since 2007.

While homebuilding is many years away from a full recovery, the home improvement industry could easily post record-level spending in 2015, the report says. Baby Boomers accounted for almost half of all remodeling dollars spent in 2013 but the nations largest generation is poised to make an even greater impact, according to the Harvard experts. The key to future market growth is the Millennial generation," the report said. "While currently lagging previous generations in forming households and buying homes, the Millennials will eventually give a dramatic lift to home improvement spending. More immediately, the growing presence of Millennials in the rental market is encouraging property owners to invest in updates to their units.

And Millennials are prone to knock out a wall or two. In 2013, homeowners under 35 put a third of their home improvement budget into DIY projects, nearly double the amount spent among all owners.

It stands to reason that urban homeowners shell out the most in home upgrades, as do residents on both coasts, where higher home values -- and incomes -- lead to greater home improvement investments. The Harvard study says that owners in the 50 largest metros spent an average of $3,000 on home improvements in 2013.

But are major updates a wise investment? The head of the Appraisal Institute, the nations largest professional association of real estate appraisers, says these days less is more.

Homeowners will generally find that simpler, less expensive projects typically have the best return on investment, Appraisal Institute president M. Lance Coyle tells MainStreet. Some examples can include replacing a roof, garage door, entry door or vinyl siding. Other projects that homeowners might consider are installing a manufactured stone veneer, replacing windows or investing in minor kitchen remodels.

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Home improvement is booming again