Manufactured stone veneer posted a 96 percent cost/value return in Remodeling magazine’s just-released 2020 Cost vs.Value Report — putting it at the very top of the list of 22 remodeling products/projects covered by the highly regarded benchmarking study.
Manufactured stone veneer’s 96 percent cost vs. value return stands in sharp contrast to the other cladding products in the study. Concrete fiber siding had a 2020 cost vs. value return of 79 percent, while vinyl siding only posted a 75 percent return.
“As in years past, the national averages for exterior replacements outperformed those of larger discretionary remodeling projects. Manufactured stone veneer this year eclipsed the Garage Door project for the first time as the project with the highest cost recouped,” the report says. It notes that the Realtors participating in the study tend to place high value on projects that enhance curb appeal.
Continuing The Value Climb
“This is great news for our industry,” said Bobby Staten of Lee Building Products (Veneerstone and Mountain Stone), Chairman of NCMA’s Manufactured Stone Veneer Committee. “The study confirms what the manufacturers, distributors, and installers of manufactured stone veneer have known all along. MSV adds tremendous value, and the product category is taking off!
“Manufactured stone veneer brings curb appeal, and curb appeal drives value. That’s very clear from Remodeling’s 2020 Cost vs.Value Report. We’re at the top of the list. This study focused on the use of the product in residential remodeling. But MSV adds value in both remodeling and new construction across all categories, from residential to commercial to institutional. NCMA’s MSV Committee is going to use this independent data to help our members continue to grow their sales.”
While the report has been issued by Remodeling since 2008, manufactured stone veneer was only added to the study in 2015, after work by NCMA’s Manufactured Stone Veneer Committee. That year, Remodeling’s report noted that manufactured stone veneer “joined Cost vs. Value with a splash, ranking second among all projects.” It has been number two or three on the list until topping it in 2020.
MSV’s 2020 Increase Bucks The Tide
Manufactured stone veneer’s cost vs. value ratio increased from 94 percent in 2019 to 96 percent in 2020. That year-over-year cost vs. value increase bucks a slight cost vs. value ratio decline across the 22 products/projects studied.
“The 2020 Cost vs. Value report shows a predictable increase in costs for all 22 remodeling projects but a consistent dip in the perceived value of those projects at the time of home sale, as estimated by real estate professionals in more than 100 metro areas across the U.S. This results in a slight downturn on the return on investment for nearly all projects relative to the trends we saw in last year’s report.”
Manufactured stone veneer’s 2020 cost/value return of 96 percent was based on an average project cost of $9357 and a return at the time of sale of $8943.
Read more about the 2020 Cost/Value report here.
Written by Scott Ramminger, The Ramminger Group