YANGON’S home owners are tightening their belts when it comes to home improvements, a number of industry figures said last week.

U Maung Maung Zay Lin of Zealmen Decorations says that people are focussing on the essentials first.

“Since the first half of December, the interior decorations market has been stagnant. Most of the projects we’re involved with are related to business, such as shops and the finishing the exteriors of new apartments. In the past month there have been very few home owners looking to decorate the interior of their houses or apartments,” he said.

“Even people who do need to decorate their houses are looking to cut costs by using cheaper materials and reducing the amount of space they plan to cover,” he said.

Worse yet, even those decorations that have been planned on paper are by no means set in stone, with many having stop orders placed on them by owners who are cautious about the potential value of such investments.

Pushed to put a figure on the decline compared to this time last year, U Maung Maung Zay Lin said he thinks business has fallen by half.

U Ko Ko Lin, the owner of a landscaping business, said the cutbacks are spreading in his industry as well as home owners trim spending on the gardens.

“House owners usually consider their gardens last when it comes to spending money on their houses. So when they want to save some money, they begin with the garden and landscaping.

“I’ve found that the first items to go are waterfalls and fountains, while people choose cheaper plants to put in the garden. I’ve already had customers say they want to cut their decorating expenses by one third,” he said.

Customer spending power is way down, he said.

“Although I can’t put it into figures just yet I’m willing to say that the market is really dull and we’re relying on orders from regular customers to keep going,” he said.

A city-based real estate agent said that properties with Spartan interiors – or no decorations at all – are more popular with buyers.

“Buyers are looking for no-frills properties because they are cheaper. Buying these apartments also lets the new owners shape them to their own tastes, using whatever materials and furniture they can afford,” he said.

However, there has been some good news for those looking to decorate – raw materials are actually cheaper now compared with December.

U Ko Ko Lay of Meik Swe Myar home decoration materials sale centre said prices of laminated flooring and paint have fallen by 10 percent, while 50-kilogram bags of cement are about K1000 cheaper and bricks have plunged by K30 each, he said, putting the drop down to decreased demand and lower import costs.

Kamaryut township resident Daw Khin Thein is one home owner looking to cut back on her home improvement costs.

She says that teak parquet flooring is too expensive and has opted to use tiles instead.

“The cost of buying teak parquet and then having it put in are just too expensive. I’ve decided to use floor tiles because these cost only half as much and there is no need to keep maintaining them in the same way you do with teak,” she said.

Daw Khin Thein added that the tiles give the house a tidy appearance.