MUKWONAGO, WI - Homeowners are personalizing their space during a remodel as the tough housing market forces more people to stay, rather than move, says a new study by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI).

More than 26 percent of respondents are planning to stay an additional 16 to 20 years in their homes because their home values have decreased during the recession. Twenty-three percent reported they are going to stay an additional six to 10 years in their homes.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports combined existing and new single family home sales decreased 5 percent in 2010.

“This is very telling of what homeowners are experiencing as a result of the recession,” says NARI president Dean Herriges, who owns Urban Herriges & Sons, a remodeler in Mukwonago, WI. “Because many homes have recently decreased in value, people are deciding to stick it out for much longer than they had originally planned.”

This has sparked a new remodeling trend, says NARI, that centers on making homes better reflect individual lifestyles and tastes as people decide to live in them longer.

“Remodeling used to be about increasing resale value,” Herriges says, but now, “more and more people are throwing out the resale theory and making specialized improvements that suit their needs and their needs only,” he says.