The National Averages

According to the highly respected Remodeling Magazine "Cost vs. Value" report, newly constructed decks hold tremendous equity value, but the exact ROI percentage depends heavily on the decking material chosen:

Wood Decks: The Short-Term Flip (65% to 72% ROI)

If you spend $15,000 building a brand new pressure-treated pine or cedar wood deck, and seamlessly list the house for sale next week, that brand-new wood smells beautiful and looks fantastic. Because the new buyer doesn't have to deal with the maintenance yet, the home's appraisal value will generally rise by roughly $10,500.

However, if you live in the house for 6 years before selling and fail to pressure-wash and stain the wood deck, it will look terrible. Real estate agents will tell buyers they have to "strip and repair the old deck," drastically cutting your actual ROI.

Composite Decks: The Long-Term Wealth (60% to 68% ROI)

Spending $25,000 on a luxury, unscratchable TimberTech or Trex deck yields an immediate equity bump of roughly $16,000. While the initial percentage ROI looks slightly lower than cheap wood on day one, the true value of composite is its permanence.

If you sell the house 15 years later, you can casually hose off the composite deck on a Saturday afternoon, and the listing pictures will look identical to a brand-new build. You do not lose appraisal value over time. Furthermore, modern home buyers (especially Millennials) actively filter Zillow for "low maintenance," making a composite deck a massive unique selling proposition against a competing home in your neighborhood.