It’s long been assumed that American homeowners are opting to stay in their current homes due to high mortgage rates, a tight housing market, and economic uncertainty. But a new national survey conducted by Trex Company suggests homeowners aren’t staying put because they’re stuck. They’re staying on purpose.

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For a lot of homeowners, the backyard has quietly become the best seat in the house. More than half (54%) say their outdoor space is better at helping them decompress than any other room in their home.

For a lot of homeowners, the backyard has quietly become the best seat in the house. More than half (54%) say their outdoor space is better at helping them decompress than any other room in their home.

“We expected people to say they’re staying because they can’t afford to move,” said Jodi Lee, senior vice president of marketing for Trex, the world’s largest manufacturer of wood-alternative decking and railing. “What we didn’t expect was how many homeowners told us they’re staying because they genuinely love where they live. And that their backyard, specifically, is doing more emotional heavy lifting than any room inside the house.”

In a survey of 2,000 U.S. homeowners, 74% of respondents said they’re focused on staying in their current home and turning it into their dream home, not settling as a fallback due to economic conditions. When asked about their plans, homeowners chose improving over moving by a wide margin: 55% plan to renovate rather than relocate anytime soon, compared to just 8% who plan to move without improving first.

Four out of 10 homeowners are more interested in staying in their current home and improving it compared to one year ago. When asked what would be better about moving instead, more than a quarter of homeowners (26%) couldn’t name a single benefit. The data suggests that for a growing number of Americans, staying isn’t the consolation prize of a difficult housing market. It’s the strategy.

Outdoor Spaces, Relaxing, and Quality of Life Drive Home Enjoyment

Forget the living room. For a lot of homeowners, the backyard has quietly become the best seat in the house. More than half (54%) say their outdoor space is better at helping them decompress than any other room in their home, and 63% specifically point to their backyard or patio/deck as their go-to place for shaking off daily stress.

That aligns with what homeowners say they actually want from their home. Nearly two-thirds (65%) say relaxing is essential to their quality of life, ranking it above spending time with family (53%) or even sleeping (56%).

That shift is already reshaping renovation decisions. Nearly half of homeowners (48%) say the ability to upgrade their outdoor living space directly influences whether they stay in their current home at all, drawn by the promise of fresh air (64%), a place to unwind (60%), and outdoor cooking (51%). Backyard envy is also a real thing among American homeowners. About 46% admit to experiencing “deck envy” — feeling jealous of someone else’s deck or outdoor space.

When homeowners look back at what they’ve spent, they don’t regret it: 43% say a past renovation was worth it because it improved their quality of life, essentially tied with the 42% who say it was worth it because it improved their home’s value. That’s a signal that, for many homeowners, lifestyle and financial return are equally compelling reasons to renovate.

Homeownership Provides a Sanctuary and a Space that Feels Stable and Secure

Nearly three out of four homeowners say the daily enjoyment they get from their home is as important or more important than its financial return. That means the majority of homeowners prioritize how their home makes them feel as much as what it’s worth on paper. For half of homeowners, that emotional connection didn’t exist until they owned a home at all. Fifty percent strongly agree or agree that they were never truly emotionally invested in where they lived until they became a homeowner, including one in five who strongly agree.

For many Americans, home is much more than a shelter. A majority of homeowners (53%) say having a space that feels stable and secure for themselves and/or their family is a core reason they own a home at all, and nearly half (47%) describe their home as a “sanctuary.”

When asked why they’d rather stay than move, homeowners pointed to their community. Living in a great neighborhood (31%), having good relationships with neighbors (27%), and living close to family or friends (27%) topped the list.

For more information, visit Trex.com.

About the Survey

The survey was commissioned by Trex Company and conducted by Atomik Research, an independent market research firm. An online survey, fielded between July 29 and August 3, 2026, was completed by 2,000 single-family homeowners across the U.S., who have lived in their single-family home for at least one year. The margin of error for the overall sample is +/- 2.2 percentage points with a confidence level of 95 percent.

About Trex Company, Inc.

For more than 30 years, Trex Company [NYSE: TREX] has invented, reinvented and defined the wood-alternative decking category. Today, the company is the world’s #1 brand of premium, sustainable, wood-alternative decking and railing, and a leader in high-performance, low-maintenance outdoor living products. Boasting the industry’s strongest distribution network, Trex sells products through more than 6,700 retail outlets across six continents. Through strategic licensing agreements, the company offers a comprehensive outdoor living portfolio that includes deck drainage, flashing tapes, outdoor kitchen components, pergolas, spiral stairs, lattice, cornhole and outdoor furniture – all marketed under the Trex® brand.

Based in Winchester, Va., Trex is proud to have been named America’s Most Trusted® Outdoor Decking^ for the past 6 years (2021-2026) and included in TIME’s list of “America’s Best Companies 2026, Newsweek’s list of the Most Trustworthy Companies in America 2026 and USA Today’s 2026 list of “America’s Climate Leaders.” The company has also been ranked on Barron’s list of the 100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies (2024 and 2025), was named one of America’s Most Responsible Companies 2024 by Newsweek, highlighted as one of the 100 Best ESG Companies by Investor’s Business Daily, and named the Sustainable Brand Leader in the decking category by Green Builder Media for 16 consecutive years. For more information, visit Trex.com. You may also follow Trex on Facebook (trexcompany), Instagram (trexcompany), X (Trex_Company), LinkedIn (trex-company), TikTok (trexcompany), Pinterest (trexcompany) and Houzz (trex-company-inc), or view product and demonstration videos on the brand’s YouTube channel (TheTrexCo).

^2021-2026 DISCLAIMER: Trex received the highest numerical score in the proprietary Lifestory Research 2021-2026 America’s Most Trusted® Outdoor Decking studies. Study results are based on the experiences and perceptions of people surveyed. Your experiences may vary. Visit www.lifestoryresearch.com

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