The home improvement projects that boast the largest returns

The average cost and average return at resale for the 30 projects in this year’s Cost Vs. Value report showed an average of 64.4 percent of a project’s investment dollars getting regained if the home is sold within a year.

That’s an increase of 2.4 percent from last year. According to the report, it is the second-highest return in the past eight years. However, the average project was 4.7 percent more costly in 2015.

According to a survey of real estate professionals regarding their views of how much a project increased a home’s value at resale within a year, they estimated the average project’s dollar return was 6.7 percent higher in the latest report than in 2015.

Most of the larger percentage gains were for more expensive and complicated projects. At the top of the list was the fiberglass entry door, with an increase of 21.2 percent, followed by the two-story addition, boasting an 8.1 percent increase in recoupment than in last year’s report. The master suite was up 6.5 percent, and finally, the major kitchen remodel came in at 4.2 percent higher.

However, this year’s biggest return was an attic insulation project. This was the only project that averaged out across the country with greater than a 100 percent return.

Manufactured stone veneer claimed second place again this year, with a 92.9 percent return. Midscale garage door replacement came in third with a 92.9 percent return. Last year’s first place, a steel entry replacement, came in at 91.1 percent, followed by the upscale door replacement at 90.1 percent.

On the other end of the scale, the five projects with the worst returns all scored cost-value ratios between 56.2 and 57.7 percent, according to the report. These include: midrange bathroom addition, upscale bathroom addition, upscale master suite, upscale bathroom remodel and composite deck addition.

The less difficult and less costly projects are most likely to have a bigger cost-value ratio. The report noted that four of the five top projects for cost value were under $5,000 for a professional job. Projects costing more $25,000 were lower on the list, with the first one coming in 15th for price recouped.

Additionally, replacement jobs, like door or window projects, generated a higher recoupment value over remodeling projects, and have since 2003.