The Stay-and-Renovate Economy
A generation of buyers locked in mortgage rates the market no longer offers — and the cost of giving those rates up has rewritten what they do with their homes. Instead of trading up, they’re staying put and reinvesting in the homes they already own. Renovation has become the substitute for relocation.
To understand this shift, Acorn Finance surveyed 1,000 U.S. homeowners who purchased their current home between 2010 and 2022. The findings reveal a durable “improve, don’t move” economy: homeowners feel locked in by their rates, they’re planning real projects at real budgets, and they’re far more open to financing that work than most people assume.
This free report breaks down who’s staying, why, what they’re building, how much they plan to spend, and how they intend to pay for it. It highlights the gap between the financing homeowners say they’d use and what they’re actually being offered. Whether you’re a contractor, home services provider, lender, or part of the home improvement ecosystem, these insights map where the next wave of renovation demand is coming from.
Inside the report, you’ll learn:
- 78% of homeowners who bought in the low-rate window feel at least somewhat financially locked into their current home — 47% feel locked in outright.
- 76% plan to stay in their current home over the next five years.
- 72% are planning a renovation, addition, or repair project in the next 12–24 months.
- 66% plan to spend more than $15,000 on home improvements in the next 12 months — and 1 in 5 plan to spend $50,000 or more.
- 84% say they’d be likely to use financing offered directly by a contractor — even though only 13% list contractor financing as a planned funding source today.
- 54% are willing to tap home equity to fund a renovation.
- 62% have started or accelerated a project specifically because they decided not to move.
- 43% have delayed or cancelled a renovation in the past year over cost or financing concerns.
- 94% of homeowners who completed a major renovation say it was clearly worth it compared to moving.
The move-up market hasn’t disappeared — it’s been redirected into the homes Americans already own.
