Top 3 Ranked Projects Hold Steady from Last Year, With Over 200% Cost Recovered
Zondahas published the highly anticipated 38th annual Cost vs. Value (CVV) report, ranking the most common home renovation projects across the nation by return on investment (ROI) value. This year's results reaffirm a long-standing trend: exterior home improvement projects consistently deliver more value at resale than larger discretionary interior remodels.
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For the second consecutive year, garage door replacement takes the top spot, followed by steel entry door replacement and manufactured stone veneer. Each of these projects more than doubled the cost of investment, highlighting the outsized value that curb appeal brings in today's selective housing market.
“Exterior replacement projects remain the clear winners when it comes to adding resale value,” said Clay DeKorne, chief editor of Zonda's JLC Group. “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.”
Highlights from the 2025 Cost vs. Value Report:
— 8 of the top 10 projects are exterior replacements, underscoring the continued strength of curb appeal.
— A minor kitchen remodel remains the only interior project in the top five, demonstrating the enduring importance of a livable kitchen.
— A backup power generator entered the top 10 for the first time, with ROI exceeding 100% in hurricane-prone and storm-affected regions.
— Regional differences are pronounced, with the Pacific and West South-Central regions reporting the strongest overall returns.
— Newly added projects-including basement remodels, accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and rooftop solar panels-show varying payoffs, with basement remodels proving most consistent nationwide.
“Housing demand shifted in 2025 (similar to prior periods of adjustment like 2012), and ROI of remodels shifted accordingly,” said Todd Tomalak, principal of building products advisory for Zonda. “We continue to see exterior improvements drive the most value for owners selling their homes, while interior projects make the most sense for residents planning on staying in their homes for longer periods of time.”
The Cost vs. Value Report answers a simple but critical question: What value does a remodeling project add to the sale price of a home? This year's results were determined in part through data collected from surveys of real estate professionals along with data delivered via Zonda's collaboration with Verisk's remodeling estimating solution, XactRemodel®. The collaboration allows remodelers, homeowners, and real estate investors to quickly look up the average cost of 28 remodeling projects versus how much value those projects retain at resale. The data is available for 119 local U.S. markets.
Top Ten Cost vs. Value: National Averages
To read the entire report, see the geographic cost vs. value averages, and get more information on the survey results, visit www.costvsvalue.com.
Join Todd Tomalak for the Building Products Forecast Webinar on Thursday, October 23, 2025, as he and Zonda's research team share the latest industry shifts and key insights for the next 18 months.
About ZondaZondaprovides data-driven housing market solutions to the homebuilding industry. From builders to building product manufacturers, mortgage clients, and multifamily executives, we work hand-in-hand with our customers to streamline access to housing data to empower smarter decisions. As a leading brand in residential construction, our mission is to advance the home building industry, because we believe better homes mean better lives and stronger communities. Together, we are building the future of housing.
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