Every number traced to a named report, survey or peer-reviewed study. Read your tag first. Remodeling cost and resale figures in these summaries are according to the Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report (www.costvsvalue.com).
NAR asked 806 homeowners how they felt about their finished projects. The perfect 10s that NAR also priced are estimated to recover 54 to 60 cents on the dollar at resale, and the #1 project in Zonda's resale ranking comes last in NAR's Joy Score chart. Here is how to tell which one you are buying.
NAHB asked buyers which features they want. Zonda and NAR asked what buyers pay back. Put the two lists side by side and the features split into three groups: wanted and paid for, wanted and not paid for, and wanted but never measured. Knowing which is which is the whole game.
Half of all home-improvement spending in America is replacement work, not upgrades. The 2025 Cost vs. Value data prices eight replacement and systems projects. One returns more than it costs, the rest return from the mid-nineties down to about half. Here is the pattern, and the reason the ranking looks the way it does.
NAR asked thousands of Realtors what they recommend before a listing goes live. The answers are cheap, cosmetic and mostly outside, and the projects homeowners love most barely make the list. Here is the pre-listing list with the recovery numbers attached.
Zonda says a steel entry door returns 216.4% of its cost at resale. NAR's Realtor survey says 100%. Zillow's buyer study says the color alone can move an offer by thousands. Three datasets, one door, and a Saturday's worth of work.
A midrange garage door replacement costs $4,672 and adds $12,507 at resale, 267.7% of the cost recouped. The midrange kitchen most homeowners start with costs $82,793 and returns 50.9%. Here is the pattern behind the 2025 ranking.
© 2025 Zonda Media, a Delaware Corporation. Complete data from the Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report can be downloaded free at www.costvsvalue.com.