More Americans choosing remodels over moves
- Redfin said on April 17 that many U.S. homeowners are renovating instead of moving, as high rates and prices keep replacement homes out of reach. - About two-thirds of owners who recently renovated said they upgraded rather than relocated; 43% renovated in the last year, and 33% plan to. - Mortgage costs are still the choke point, though remodeling growth is expected to cool later in 2026.
The housing story here is simple, but brutal. A lot of Americans would like a different home, but they do not want the mortgage that comes with it. So instead of moving, they are reworking the house they already have. That shift showed up clearly in Redfin’s April 17 survey. More than two in five Americans said they renovated in the last year, and roughly two-thirds of recent renovators said the project was an alternative to moving. The basic math is doing the steering — homeowners are locked into older, cheaper mortgages, while today’s rates and prices make a trade-up feel more like a financial penalty than an upgrade. (redfin.com) ### Why are people staying put? The biggest reason is the lock-in effect. A huge share of homeowners with mortgages are sitting on rates well below current market levels, so selling means giving up a cheap loan and taking on a much more expensive one. NAHB said 2024 saw roughly 320,000 fewer homeowners relocate than the year before, with 30-year fixed mortgages averaging about 6.7% in 2024. (nahb.org) ### Why does remodeling feel cheaper? Because it often is — at least compared with buying another house. Redfin’s survey found most homeowners who renovated in the last year spent less than $20,000. That is still real money, but it is often easier to swallow than a higher monthly payment, closing costs, moving expenses, and the price jump (nahb.org)le new mortgage can reshape your budget for decades. (redfin.com) ### What changed this week? Mortgage demand weakened again. MBA data for the week ending May 1 showed total mortgage applications fell 4.4%, with the average 30-year fixed contract rate rising to 6.45%. Refinance share slipped to 42.0%, which tells you even the “just lower my payment” crowd is finding fewer openings right now. (redfin.com)ard remodel. (housingwire.com) ### Is this just older owners aging in place? No — though older homeowners are a big part of it. NAHB says aging in place is one structural tailwind for remodeling, especially as the owner-occupied housing stock gets older. But Redfin says younger owners are in this camp too. Millennials and Gen Z homeowners were more lik(housingwire.com)are trying to adapt starter homes to second-home needs. (nahb.org) ### Does that hurt the for-sale market? Yes, at least in the short run. When owners stay put, fewer homes hit the market. That slows turnover and keeps the housing cycle sticky. Zillow and NAR both expect sales to improve in 2026 if affordability gets a little better, but that forecast depends on r(nahb.org)le who want change without a move. (zillow.com) ### Will remodeling keep booming? Probably not booming — but still growing. Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies expects homeowner improvement and maintenance spending to keep rising through 2026, reaching about $518 billion by year-end, though growth is projected to slow from 2.1% in mid-2026 to 1.6% by late 2026. So the trend is still up, just not as fast. (jchs.harvard.edu) ### What’s the bottom line? Americans are not remodeling because they suddenly fell in love with construction dust. They are remodeling because the housing market made moving harder to justify. Until mortgage rates fall enough to make replacement homes feel attainable again, the safer play for many households is to fix the house they have and stay put. (housingwire.com)
