- Almost half of sellers’ agents (48%) reported that home staging decreased a property’s time on the market.
- Twenty percent of both buyers’ and sellers’ agents said home staging increased the dollar value offered by between 1% and 5% compared to similar homes on the market not staged.
- Staging the living room was found to be most important for buyers (39%), followed by the primary bedroom (36%) and kitchen (30%).
“As days on market has lengthened for home sellers, it is not a surprise to see the return of home staging as a tool to attract potential buyers,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research. “Buyers want to easily envision themselves within a new home and home staging is a way to showcase the property in its best light.”
Four out of five buyers’ agents (81%) said staging a home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home. Staging the living room was found to be most important for buyers (39%), followed by the primary bedroom (36%) and the kitchen (30%).
“When getting ready to list a home for sale, it’s vital to complete the necessary prep work to make a favorable and lasting first impression,” said NAR President Kenny Parcell, a Realtor® from Spanish Fork, Utah, and broker-owner of Equity Real Estate Utah. “Realtors® provide valuable guidance on how best to make your home an inviting space that connects with prospective buyers and stands out from the competition.”
Almost a quarter of sellers’ agents (23%) said they staged all sellers’ homes prior to listing them for sale, while 10% noted they only staged homes that were difficult to sell.
Real estate television shows affected buyers’ perspectives on homes, according to a majority of Realtors®. Approximately three out of four respondents (73%) said that TV shows which display the buying process impacted their business by setting unrealistic or increased expectations, with more than half of those surveyed (55%) reporting that buyers said homes should look like they were staged on TV shows.
In the last five years, about half of surveyed Realtors® (51%) said they’ve seen an increase in the share of buyers who planned to remodel a home. A quarter of respondents noted that buyers who plan to remodel will do so within the first three months of owning a home.
Almost all surveyed (95%) said that their buyer clients brought family members who weren’t purchasing the home with them while viewing homes.