A new survey from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) indicates remodeling the bathroom is more important to homeowners than remodeling the kitchen, although both rooms dominate other remodeling projects. The survey, which asked respondents about their remodeling projects in 2017 and what types of changes they made, indicated that 81 percent of homeowners who remodeled last year did bathroom remodeling, and 78 percent did kitchen remodeling. Just under half did a “whole house” remodel, about a third added a room to their home, and about a third replaced windows and doors.
Clearly, kitchens remain very important to homeowners, but the slight shift in preference toward bathroom remodels could be a good thing for real estate investors seeking to upgrade properties without breaking the bank. Bathrooms tend to be less expensive than kitchen remodels, starting around $2,500 on the low end and climbing as high as $24,000 for a high-end property. The national average is just under $10,000. Kitchen remodels, on the other hand, start around $4,000 on the low end and can climb to $50,000 or more, with the national average hovering around $22,000.
Investor Insight: Homeowners and home buyers say that a modern, beautiful bathroom is possibly more important than an updated kitchen.
“Small-scale renovations are slowly becoming just as popular as large-scale projects, as seen with bathroom remodeling becoming more common than kitchens,” observed 2018 Remodelers Chair Joanne Theunissen, a remodeler herself based in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. She added, “Homeowners are finding cost-effective and shorter-timeframe upgrades can also add comfort and value to their home.” The survey also indicated homeowners are placing higher value on green upgrades that save on utility costs, improve air quality, and increase home value. Programmable thermostats and high-efficiency HVAC systems were the most common “green” products used according to the survey.
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