Verisk cost data. New for this year, Cost vs. Value partnered with Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK), a leading global provider of predictive analytics and decision-support solutions. Building cost data for each of the 22 remodeling projects was drawn from Verisk’s remodeling estimating solution, XactRemodel, and is grounded in the company's insights working with professional contractors and remodelers across the U.S.
Econometric model. Recent years have seen a dramatic drop-off in the ability to survey enough realtors to provide inputs for the value side of the Cost vs. Value reports. Knowing that 2020 and 2021 posed an even greater challenge to achieve a strong sample of realtors, a statistical modeling approach has been employed as an alternative for the 2022 Cost vs. Value.
The approach implemented by the CVV team for 2022 widens the geographic coverage and provides greater detail in specific markets, using an econometric model that predicts project values based on best overall fit using a broad selection of variables, including changes in median household income, changes in number employed, changes in unemployment rates, local GDP, housing starts, existing home sales, existing home values, changes in existing home sales and existing home values, as well as others.
Pinpoint levels. The combined cost and value approach has allowed Cost vs. Value to estimate each market by ZIP code. One set of costs and values is no longer needed for an entire metro area. If a ZIP code contains much higher-than-average priced homes, the remodeling project costs and values reflect that and provide finer levels of precision.