Exterior home updates earn highest resale return, report says
A comparison of home renovation costs and return value found that exterior upgrades are more likely to earn homeowners more value at resale.
Garage door replacement, steel entry door replacement and manufactured stone veneer topped the list for highest ROI, according to Zonda's annual Cost v. Value Report released Thursday.
"While large interior remodels may be personally rewarding, their appeal is often too subjective to deliver the same return when it's time to sell," Clay Dekorne, chief editor of the publishing group behind the report, said in a statement.
Here's the breakdown of the top 10 remodeling projects with the greatest cost recouped:
- Garage door replacement: 267.7%
- Steel door replacement: 216.4%
- Manufactured stone veneer: 207.9%
- Fiber-cement siding replacement: 113.7%
- Minor kitchen remodel: 112.9%
- Vinyl siding replacement: 96.5%
- Backup power generator: 95.3%
- Wood deck addition: 94.9%
- Composite deck addition: 88.5%
- Fiberglass entrance: 84.7%
"We continue to see exterior improvements drive the most value for owners selling their homes," according to Todd Tomalak, principal of building products advisory for Zonda.
"Interior projects make the most sense for residents planning on staying in their homes for longer periods of time," he added.
Household real estate asset value reaches new high
The value of real estate assets rose in the second quarter to a new high, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve and the National Association of Home Builders.
Between March and June, the estimated value of all owner-occupied real estate in the country was $29.3 trillion. That's higher than last quarter and higher than the same period a year earlier.
The growth comes even as home price growth is slowing, according to Jesse Wade, an economist and director of tax and trade policy analysis for NAHB.
"The calculation combines both repeat-home sales data with estimates of additions to the housing stock, essentially measuring both price changes and the change in quantity of housing assets," he explained in a Sept. 12 blog post. "This approach helps explain why household real estate wealth can continue to rise even as other measures may show a slowing in home price growth."
At the same time, real estate secured liabilities — think mortgages and home equity loans — also increased on a quarterly and annual basis.
Fewer people are filing for unemployment
Applications for unemployment benefits fell in the week ended Sept. 13, according to the Department of Labor.
In all, there were 231,000 claims, a roughly 33,000 decrease from the previous week.
It's a signal that though hiring in the job market is soft right now, layoffs have remained relatively low.
The health of the labor — and unemployment — market has been top of mind for investors and markets, especially as the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates yesterday. Future rate cuts will depend on how the jobs market looks over the rest of the year.