The landscape industry had the highest percentage, 74 percent, of businesses reporting revenue growth from 2012 to 2013, in a new survey of professionals in the home design, building and renovating trades.

According to a recent survey from a leading Internet platform for home remodeling and design, 90 percent of North American home building professionals including those in the landscaping industry expect revenue to grow in 2014.

The survey was conducted by Houzz.com and its results, which were based on data provided by more than 6,500 service providers on the platform, and summarized in the Houzz Residential Design & Renovation Outlook report, revealed that the majority of home professionals reported a strong 2013, with 70 percent saying revenue grew compared to the year prior.

"These findings are consistent with other leading industry indicators forecasting healthy growth for our industry," said Liza Hausman, vp of community for Houzz. "People are more confident about putting money into their homes, and feedback from our professional community shows that's translating into more business for home pros around the country."

At 74 percent, landscape professionals had the highest percentage of businesses reporting revenue growth from 2012 to 2013.

The results also showed that the larger the firm, the more likely they are to have grown revenue in 2013: 80 percent of firms with more than six employees reported revenue growth versus 2012 compared to 72 percent of firms with two to five employees and 64 percent of sole proprietors.

More than half of home professionals surveyed said their business performed better than expected in 2013. Additional findings include:

• On average, 69 percent of home professionals said they have taken on more diverse projects over the past two years. This number was higher for landscape architects, designers and contractors with 72 percent saying they have diversified their projects and lowest for architects at 64 percent. Larger firms were also more likely to have diversified their business: 72 percent of firms with six employees or more said they have taken on more diverse projects compared to 66 percent of sole proprietors.
• Irrespective of company size, the majority of home professionals (64 percent) reported that the size of their projects, in terms of overall project cost, increased in 2013 compared to the year prior. More landscape professionals (67 percent) and contractors (66 percent) said project size was larger compared to 2012 than other professional types.
• Firms expect revenue growth to come from both higher average revenue per project, as well as a larger number of projects. New project starts are expected to increase in 2014 across all professional types surveyed.