Economists' Outlook

Housing stats and analysis from NAR's research experts.

Home Staging Could Pay for Itself and Increase Seller Equity

According to 31 percent of REALTORS® who work with buyers, staging a home before listing it for sale on the market could have a price increase of up to five or 10 percent. On a $300,000 home, that could add between $15,000 and $30,000, paying for the cost of home staging and increasing a seller’s equity.

In a new NAR report 2017 Profile of Home Staging, 59 percent of REALTORS® who work with sellers said that staging a home could increase the dollar value buyers offer. Twenty-nine percent said it can increase the dollar value offered by one to five percent and 21 percent said it could increase the dollar value offered by six to 10 percent. If there is no impact on dollar value, home staging can help speed up the time it takes to sell a home, 62 percent said it slightly or greatly decreased a home’s time on market.

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How to Stage a Home

Forty-nine percent of agents representing home buyers said that home staging positively impacts their view of the home. Seventy-seven percent of agents said that home staging made it easier for buyers to visualize the property as their future home. The living room was listed at the top as rooms that are very important to stage (55 percent), followed by the master bedroom (51 percent), and the kitchen (41 percent). Thirty-eight percent of seller’s agents suggest that sellers stage all homes for sale and 37 percent recommend that if a seller does not stage that they should declutter and fix property faults.

Paying for Home Staging

Most often, the seller pays before they list their home on the market, said 25 percent of agents. In some cases, the REALTOR® personally offers to stage a home (21 percent). A REALTOR® can also offer to recommend a reliable and affordable home staging service (14 percent).

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