2021 Profile of Home Staging by the National Association of REALTORS® Research Group

Home Staging: Buyers’ Agent Perspective:
• Forty-seven percent of buyers’ agents cited that home staging had an
effect on most buyers’ view of the home.
• Eighty-two percent of buyers’ agents said staging a home made it
easier for a buyer to visualise the property as a future home.
• Staging the living room was found to be very important for buyers
(46 percent), followed by staging the master bedroom (43 percent), and
staging the kitchen (35 percent).
• Among buyers’ agents, having photos (83 percent), videos (74 percent),
and virtual tours (73 percent) available for their listings was more
important since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Twenty-three percent of buyer’s agents said that staging a home
increased the dollar value offered between one and five percent,
compared to other similar homes on the market that are not staged.

Home Staging: Sellers’ Agent Perspective:
• Thirty-one percent of sellers’ agents said they staged all sellers’ homes
prior to listing them for sale. Thirteen percent noted that they only
staged homes that are difficult to sell.
• The most common rooms that were staged included the living room
(90 percent), kitchen (80 percent), master bedroom (78 percent), and
the dining room (69 percent).
• It was most common that sellers’ agents used a staging service (49
percent). Sellers’ agents also personally offered to stage the home (26
percent), and said that paying for staging was dependent on the
situation (26 percent).
• The median dollar value spent when using a staging service was $1,500,
compared to $300 when the sellers’ agent personally staged the home.
• When staging a home, 23 percent of sellers’ agents reported an
increase of one to five percent of the dollar value offered by buyers, in
comparison to similar homes.
• Twenty-two percent of sellers’ agents stated that there were slight
decreases in the time on the market when the home is staged.
• Among sellers’ agents, having photos (58 percent), virtual tours (45
percent) and videos (43 percent) available for their listings was much
more important since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Buyer Expectations:
• Eighty-one percent of respondents said that buyers had ideas
about where they wanted to live, and what they wanted in an
ideal home (76 percent) before starting the buying process.
• Forty percent of respondents stated that buyers typically thought
the home buying process would be neither easy nor difficult.
• A median of 10 percent of respondents cited that buyers felt
homes should look the way they were staged on TV shows.
• A median of 10 percent of respondents stated that buyers were
disappointed by how homes looked compared to homes they saw
on TV shows.
• A median of 20 percent of respondents cited that buyers brought
family members with them to view homes.
• A median of 30 percent of respondents cited that buyers
consulted with family members during the buying process.
• Thirty-one percent of respondents said that TV shows which
displayed the buying process impacted their business.
• Seventy-one percent of respondents said that TV shows which
display the buying process impacted their business by setting
unrealistic expectations or increased expectations.
• In the last five years, 59 percent of respondents cited they have
seen an increase in the share of buyers who planned to remodel a
home. A median of 25 percent of respondents said that buyers
who plan to remodel will do so within the first three months of
owning a home.
• Fifty-three percent of respondents stated that buyers typically did
not have an expectation of the number of homes they would see
before buying.
• Among those who did have an expectation, buyers expected to
view a median of 10 homes in-person and a median of 15 homes
virtually.
• Thirty-six percent of respondents stated that buyers’ expectation
of the number of homes they saw before buying matched the
market.

Download the full 2021 Profile of Home Staging compiled by the NAR on the following link: