Jobber, the leading provider of home service software, has officially confirmed the release of its latest Home Service Economic Report: 2024 Q2. Going by the available details, this particular report comes decked up with expert insights and proprietary data aggregated from more than 200,000 residential cleaners, landscapers, HVAC technicians, electricians, plumbers, and more, who run their businesses using Jobber. Talk about the whole lowdown on a slightly deeper level, we begin from how, in the first half of 2024, consumer spending has shown cautious growth. This has been influenced, to a great extent, by subsiding inflation and discussions of potential interest rate cuts. Markedly enough, the stated growth is now also reflecting in the performance which the report has observed across several Home Service segments. For instance, the Green segment, which includes lawn care, landscaping, and a range of associated outdoor services, has put on display a steady brand of growth, along with increased median revenue. Such a growth, like one might imagine, informs us on consumers’ willingness to invest in smaller home upkeep projects. Next up, we have the Cleaning segment. Markedly enough, despite what has been a perceptible decline in new work, median revenue for the Cleaning segment has proven itself to be pretty robust, remaining stable through higher prices and premium services. To give you some context, the stated segment includes residential and commercial cleaning, carpet cleaning, junk removal, and other similar services.
“As we navigate the economic landscape of 2024, it’s clear that consumer demand is experiencing a cautious yet positive trend,” said Abheek Dhawan, Senior VP, Strategy & Analytics at Jobber. “Although growth has cooled to low single digits in the first half of the year, increased average invoice sizes have helped service businesses maintain revenue. As inflation subsides and potential interest rate cuts loom, we anticipate a boost in consumer spending in the latter half of 2024 and into 2025. This will likely drive growth in the Home Service sector, particularly as housing and home improvement services become more affordable.”
Another segment we must dig into here is of Contracting. Packing together arborists, electricians, handymen, HVAC, plumbers and other non-construction contractor services, this particular space has witnessed a rather mixed bag of results, results that come next tp flat growth overall. Having said so, certain months did show significant increases in median revenue. Rounding up highlights is the specialized construction space, which would go on to experience the largest decline in new work being scheduled. Now, while the given decline has largely stemmed from high interest rates, there remains the potential for recovery, inflation looking to ease up. As for who happens to be a part of this segment, it includes businesses in residential and commercial construction, remodeling, and related industries.
Among other things, we ought to mention how home equity values continue to showcase an upwards trend, but having said that, new permits and housing starts have now firmly hopped on a decline, creating headwinds for Home Service category during the rest of 2024 and 2025. On top of that, remodeling activity is also slowing due to high interest rates and reduced consumer confidence. The same is expected, however, to recover in 2025. Not just that, the activity in question is also poised for long-term growth due to the aging housing stock.
“While consumer spending was down the first half of the year and the performance of Home Service businesses was mixed, our customers are resilient and have shown us time and time again that they’re capable of navigating unpredictable market conditions,” said Sam Pillar, CEO & co-founder of Jobber. “We are optimistic that conditions in Home Service are improving and remain focused on helping our customers thrive in this evolving category.”
Founded in 2011, Jobber’s rise up the ranks comes from being an award-winning software solution for small home service businesses. The company’s excellence in what it does can also be understood once you consider its technology is currently being used by more than 200,000 home service professionals, who stretch across 27 million different properties in more than 60 countries.
