U.S. homeowners are bullish on remodeling, according to a new study by interior design portal Houzz.com: 53 percent of those surveyed agree now is a good time to renovate a home.

The second annual Houzz & Home Survey found confidence is higher among West region homeowners, and lowest in the Northeast. Minneapolis, MN and Portland, OR residents have the highest percent - 59 - who believe now is a good time to renovate, while Huntington, WV homeowners had the lowest, at 40 percent.

A key indicator of the economic turnaround, says Houzz, is the significant drop – a full eight points - in the percentage of respondents who said they are delaying projects as compared with survey results one year ago.

Only 11 percent of respondents surveyed by Houzz.com say they would need to take out a line of credit to finance their home renovations. Seventy-five percent of U.S. home owners surveyed also think now is a good time to buy a home, with confidence strongest in the Midwestern and Western regions of the country, according to Houzz research.

Significantly more U.S. homeowners are moving forward with renovation projects compared to this time last year, says Houzz VP community Liza Hausman.

“We’ve collected an unprecedented volume of data from the community,” said Hausmanin announcing the results of the study, which garnered more than 100,000 responses from the Houzz community of 14 million monthly unique users. Hausman says it is the largest study of its kind ever conducted.

Preliminary results from the Houzz home renovation report were delivered by Annie Nozawa at Cabinets & Closets Expo 2013 last month.

The complete Houzz & Home study is available at Woodworkingnetwork.com or at Houzz.com