Home service management software company Jobber predicts that revenue will consistently grow for landscapers and other home services in the second half of this year, continuing the positive trend that began more than a year ago.

“The home service category has demonstrated resilience throughout the pandemic and continues to experience positive growth,” said Sam Pillar, Jobber CEO and co-founder. “While factors such as growing inflation and supply chain disruptions are presenting challenges for companies everywhere, key indicators point to consistent growth for home service as we enter the second half of 2021.”

Consumer spending on home service recovered faster than all other categories, such as clothing and footwear, food services and accommodations and health care, and has exceeded pre-pandemic levels since June 2020. Trends indicating long-term sustainable growth for the category include:

• Home improvement projects demand remains strong: Annual growth in home renovation and repair expenditure reached 6.1 percent year-over-year in Q2 2021 and is expected to grow by 7.6 percent by the end of 2021.
• Real estate boom continues: The sale of new and existing homes reached record levels in the second half of 2020 and into Q1 of 2021.
• New builds gain momentum: There is significant growth in new building permits issued, which in the last quarter have surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

“We know from conversations with our customers that hiring workers is incredibly challenging, particularly now,” Pillar said. “Our data also reinforces that businesses are struggling to hire workers in many home service industries.”

While the pandemic threatened to close the doors of many companies, it also served as a springboard for entrepreneurs who turned to home service to start their own businesses due to several key factors:

• Contracting invoice sizes grow double digits: The median contracting invoice size grew by 14 percent in Q2 2021 compared to the pre-pandemic levels of Q1 2020. In addition, contractors are receiving more job requests than they can fulfill.
• Green segment revenue grows: New work scheduled in the green segment slowed in Q2, but is heading back in the right direction, while median revenue growth remained remarkably consistent and positive throughout the first half of the year.

Challenges facing contractors include:

• Broken supply chain: A spike in home improvement projects alongside unprecedented disruption of the global supply chain due to the pandemic has severely impacted construction.
• Long waits for construction projects: Average wait time to start a project was up by almost four weeks in Q2 2021.
• Contractor demand exceeds availability: Contractors are getting more job requests than they’re able to fulfill, leading to mixed results for the construction industry.

“A skilled workers shortage is an industry challenge that will continue to impact the home service category,” said Abheek Dhawan, VP, business operations at Jobber.

Click here to download the home service economic report: 2021 mid-year review.