More Americans are remodeling their homes as the cost of relocation soars.

Home Improvement

A study done at the end of 2025 by MarketScreener.com found that 43% of U.S. homeowners renovated their home last year, and an additional 33% plan to renovate this year. This means roughly two in five Americans are either currently remodeling or planning to do so!

The survey showed that for those who recently renovated, 65% chose to upgrade their current home and 71% said they are choosing to remodel rather than buy a new home. Also, it found that Gen Z and Millennials are especially likely to remodel instead of moving and homeowners with children living at home were found to choose renovations to stay in the same school district and community.

I would generally agree with these stats. But oddly enough, I often find that people who renovate often do sell their home within a year for a variety of reasons—the constant workers coming in and out makes them question why they decided to renovate in the first place, they didn't like the finished work when all they wanted was to move to a larger/smaller home, etc.

Many homeowners said they wanted to stay put and improve their existing homes due to high moving costs, elevated mortgage rates and limited options in the market. It makes no sense these days to buy at a 6% or higher mortgage rate, particularly if you bought during the COVID years with 3% interest. And despite the U.S. being set to get a new head of the Federal Reserve, I don't see interest rates dropping back to 3% for a long, long time—if ever. There's too much going on with the world economy and inflation to see such low rates again.

Remember, those low rates were a response to the economic problems caused by the international pandemic. The Fed cut rates to almost zero to help boost the U.S. economy and industries like mortgage lending, insurance sales, construction and supply chains. Basically, we were in a short recession. And the Fed's website, FederalReserve.gov, has a great explanation as to what was going on back then and the response taken by our government.

The MarketScreener survey found that the average renovation people were doing was under $20,000. Want to get a guesstimate on renovations for your home? There are millions of sites, but I like HomeAdvisor.com for reasonable remodeling quotes, including: bathrooms ($6,640 to $17,624); kitchens ($14,587 to $41,540); basements ($12,021 to $34,635); central air units ($3,912 to $8,072); small building additions ($21,904 to $83,368).

I've also heard locally that to build a detached accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, can cost between $50,000 and $400,000, depending on the type that you build. A garage conversion into an ADU can cost between $50,000 and $150,000, according to UtahHomeBuilders.com.

Washington County is famous for ADUs, called "casitas," as many seniors desire a separate space for visiting family or caregivers.