What the evidence says, project by project
| Project | Finding | Source |
|---|---|---|
| New roofing | 37% of Realtors recommended it before selling; 43% saw increased demand; Joy Score 10 | NAR 2025 Remodeling Impact Report |
| New roofing, cost recovered | Not published; roofing is not in the report's cost-recovery chart | NAR 2025 Remodeling Impact Report |
| Owned solar PV | About $4 per watt premium; about $15,000 for a 3.6 kW system; premium falls as the system ages | Berkeley Lab, 22,000 sales in 8 states, 2002–2013 (2015) |
| Leased solar PV | No premium, and no discount | Berkeley Lab, almost 20,000 California sales (2017) |
NAR's figures come from a summer 2024 survey of 4,005 Realtors and 177 remodelers, for a 2,300-square-foot house; Realtors estimated value added, so they are opinions of the market, not sale prices. Berkeley Lab's solar figures are from actual sales, but they are more than a decade old and predate the end of the federal solar credit.
A roof against the house it sits on
The same roof is a very different share of what the house is worth. Where homes are cheap, a roof is a large slice of the price and a buyer will weigh it; where homes are expensive, it barely moves the number but still decides whether the inspection report is clean.
| City | Usual roof replacement, filed | Usual home value in our file | Roofing permits (3 years) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland | $10,500 | $99,000 | 4,923 |
| Waco | $10,000 | $226,000 | 2,843 |
| Minneapolis | $13,000 | $349,000 | 18,620 |
| Denton | $17,353 | $347,000 | 595 |
| Colorado Springs | $12,000 | $462,000 | 23,508 |
| Miami | $16,250 | $599,000 | 6,585 |
| San Francisco | $15,275 | $657,000 | 9,537 |
| Seattle | $19,345 | $1,026,000 | 633 |
In Cleveland the usual roof is about a tenth of the usual home value; in Seattle and San Francisco it is about 2%. The roof's age matters to a buyer in both: Fannie Mae's useful-life tables put an asphalt shingle roof at 20 years, and our guide to how long a roof lasts has the rest.
A permit is part of the value
A buyer's agent or inspector can look up whether the new roof was permitted and passed its final inspection. In Minneapolis 93.0% of roofing permits a year or more old reached a final; in Cleveland 78.3%. A roof with an open permit, or none, is a question at closing. Our permit vs no permit guide covers what an unpermitted job costs you later.
Before you reroof to sell, in five minutes
- Look up your roof's last permit on the city portal to get its age.
- Compare a quote with your city's filed value above, or on the city's roofing cost page (for example Minneapolis).
- Pick a roofer whose permits reach final: the Minneapolis roofing compare page shows each firm's finished share.
- Keep the final inspection record for the buyer.
See every Minneapolis roofer's permit record →
What this does not tell you
We cannot see sale prices, so we cannot measure what a new roof adds at sale in these cities; the value findings are NAR's survey and Berkeley Lab's studies, quoted as their claims. The home value is the usual figure for the city in our file, not your house. Filed roof values are the contractor's own figure.
How we know this
Roofing permits are those each city files under a roofing or re-roof work type in its three-year window ending September 2026 (Waco's ends May 2026). The usual filed value is the median of permits that carry one; "reached final" is the share of permits a year or more old that the city closed with a final; the usual home value is the city's single-family figure in our data. NAR and Berkeley Lab findings are quoted from their reports and releases, read 22 October 2026.
Numbers come from City of Cleveland building permits; City of Minneapolis construction permits (CCS); City of Miami building permits (since 2014); San Francisco DBI building permits on one- and two-family homes, with the contractor from the city's permit contacts file; City of Seattle (SDCI) building, trade and electrical permits on single-family and duplex homes (the city's open-data exports); Pikes Peak Regional Building Department permits inside Colorado Springs city limits; City of Denton Building Safety permits on homes (the city's yearly permit reports); City of Waco EnerGov building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits on homes (the city's June 9, 2026 permit extract), with the contractor taken from each permit's public contact list on the city's Citizen Self Service site, data through October 17, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- Does roof replacement increase home value?
It helps a sale more than it adds a measured price. In NAR's 2025 Remodeling Impact Report, 37% of Realtors had recommended sellers put on new roofing before listing and 43% saw more demand for it, but the report publishes no cost-recovered figure for roofing.
- Does a flat roof increase home value?
We found no study that measures it. What is published is lifespan: Fannie Mae's tables give a built-up, EPDM or TPO flat roof 20 years, the same as an asphalt shingle roof, so a new flat roof resets the same clock a buyer's inspector will check.
- Does solar panel installation add value to your home?
Owned systems did in Berkeley Lab's study of almost 22,000 sales in eight states from 2002 to 2013: buyers paid about $4 per watt, about $15,000 for a 3.6 kW system, and the premium fell as systems aged. A 2017 Berkeley Lab report found homes with leased systems sold for the same as homes without solar.
- Is a new roof worth it before selling?
If the roof is near the end of its useful life (about 20 years for asphalt shingle), buyers' inspectors will flag it, which is why 37% of Realtors in NAR's survey had recommended it. Compare the cost with your city's filed value: $13,000 in Minneapolis, $15,275 in San Francisco.
- Does a new roof make homeowners happy?
Yes, by NAR's measure: new roofing got a Joy Score of 10 out of 10 in its 2025 report, alongside a kitchen upgrade and an added primary bedroom suite.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
Related guides
- What's a good completion rate for a contractor? The benchmarks from 12 trades and cities
- How long does a roof last? Lifespans by material, and how many roofs get replaced
- How to finance a roof, heat pump or solar: FHA, USDA, PACE and state loans compared
- The best month to start electrical, HVAC and solar work (by city)
For one city
- 2025 Remodeling Impact Report — National Association of REALTORS® Research Group (2025-04-09; accessed 2026-10-22)
- Top Remodeling Projects for Homeowner Satisfaction and Cost Recovery Revealed in NAR Report — NAR (2025-04-09; accessed 2026-10-22)
- Berkeley Lab Illuminates Price Premiums for U.S. Solar Home Sales — Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2015-01-13; accessed 2026-10-22)
- Berkeley Lab Report Says Solar Homes with Leased Systems Sell for the Same as Non-Solar Homes — Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2017-03-14; accessed 2026-10-22)
- Instructions for Performing a Multifamily Property Condition Assessment, Appendix F: Estimated Useful Life Tables — Fannie Mae (2019-08; accessed 2026-10-22)