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Looking to sell your home? Staging can help showcase your home’s best features and increase buyer appeal. Home staging is the process of decorating the home in a way that showcases its best features, helping prospective buyers envision what the place would look like if they were to live there.
Even small changes, such as rearranging furniture or updating style, can be enough to grab a buyer’s attention in a challenging market. To better understand the importance of home staging, we’ve compiled a list of top home staging statistics, the benefits, the costs, and the return on investment (ROI).
Top Home Staging Facts and Statistics for 2023 Trends
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 20% of 2022 homebuyers increased their offer on a home by 1% to 5% because the home was staged. Home staging benefits buyers and sellers, as it helps buyers visualize living in a well-set-up home and allows sellers to make more money from a faster sale.
Here are some of the top home-staging statistics from 2022 that highlight what trends we can anticipate in 2023.
- Most buyers’ agents (81%) said staging a home made it easier for potential buyers to visualize the property as a future home in a 2023 study.1
- The living room is identified as the highest priority room to stage for buyers (39%).1
- More than half (58%) of buyers’ agents reported that home staging affected most buyers’ view of the home.1
- Forty percent of homebuyers were more willing to visit a staged home they saw online.1
- Staging a home resulted in a 1% to 5% increase in the home’s dollar value compared to similar homes on the market that were not staged, according to 20% of seller’ agents in 2023.1
- Thirty-four percent of buyer’s agents said that staging positively affects home value if decorated to a buyer’s taste.1
- Thirty percent of buyers consulted with family members during the buying process, even though they would not live in the home.1
- Professionally staged homes sell for an average of $40,000 over the list price, based on a 2021 market survey.2
- Staging has been important for the last several years, with a 2019 report stating that 29% of buyers consider a staged home important to their search process.3
- Younger generations consider staging extremely or very important (48% of Generation Z buyers and 40% of millennial buyers).3
- Forty-eight percent of sellers’ agents noticed a decrease in the time a staged home spends on the market.1
- Decluttering the home is the most common home improvement task recommended to sellers by agents, with a recommendation rate of 96%. Home cleaning was the second-most recommended task.1
Benefits of Home Staging
Staging a home allows sellers to show off a move-in-ready home and engage buyers with a visually appealing place to live. Updating rooms to appear on-trend can help buyers see themselves living in the home and create an emotional connection with the home.
- A 2021 report found that 85% of staged homes sold for 5% to 23% over the listing price.4
- According to a 2019 report, doing virtual home staging (a graphic editor digitally designs a room using virtual furniture and decor) instead of physical home staging can reduce staging costs by up to 97%.6
- Twenty percent of buyer’s agents noted that staging a home resulted in a 1% to 5% increase in the dollar value offered by buyers compared to equivalent homes that were not staged.1
- Homes that were not staged spent an average of 184 days on the market before selling, while homes that were staged before listing sold in just 23 days, based on findings from a 2021 report.4
Home Staging Cost Statistics
Home staging costs can vary, as the price depends on what services you request. Typically you choose from reorganizing existing furniture, paying for color consultation services, decluttering and packing, staging a few key rooms, or staging the entire home with rental furniture.
- The median amount spent for a staging service in 2022 was $600, compared to $400 when the sellers’ agent personally staged the home.1
- The average cost to stage all the rooms in a vacant house ranges from $2,900 to $5,250, based on a 2021 report.4
- Homeowners pay between $300 and $600 for an initial design consultation, with a per-room stage decor rental cost of $500 to $600 per month in 2023.7
- Staging for a 2,000-square-foot home costs $2,000 to $2,400 per month in 2023.7
Home Staging ROI
Staging your home makes it more desirable. Data indicates that buyers are likely to pay more for a staged home than one without furniture. Staging is a small investment that can deliver a positive return on investment (ROI).
- About 75% of sellers see an ROI of 5% to 15% over the asking price when they choose to stage their homes professionally before they put them up for sale.4
- Investing 1.3% in staging results in a 7.1% average over-list return, according to a 2021 survey.2
- Staging helps increase the sale price by up to 20% on average based on a 2022 report.5
- Sellers who chose not to stage their homes experienced an average home price reduction of five to 20 times greater than the staging investment would have been.5
In Conclusion
When it comes to selling your home, the ultimate goal is to create a space where buyers envision themselves living in it. By highlighting the potential of a property and forming an inviting atmosphere, home staging has demonstrated its ability to attract more potential buyers, encourage higher offers, and expedite home sales.
1“Profile of Home Staging.” NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. All rights reserved. Copyright ©2023 https://cdn.NAR.realtor//sites/default/files/documents/2023-profile-of-home-staging-03-30-2023.pdf
2“2021 Seller’s Market Survey.” Real Estate Staging Association®. 2021. https://www.realestatestagingassociation.com/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=304550&module_id=164548
3“Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report 2019.” Zillow Group. 2019. https://www.zillow.com/sellers-guide/home-staging-cost/
4“2021 State of the Industry Benchmarking Report.” Real Estate Staging Association. 2021. realestatestagingassociation.com/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=304550&module_id=164548
5“Home Staging Industry Statistics.” International Association of Home Staging Professionals. 2022. http://www.homestagingstats.com/
6“10 Virtual Staging Statistics That Will Surprise You.” LCP Media. July 17, 2019. lcpmedia.com/blog/virtual-staging-statistics
7“How Much Does It Cost to Stage a House—And How Much Will You Gain?” Realtor.com. 2023. realtor.com/advice/sell/how-much-does-home-staging-cost/