Homes that are professionally staged not only attract more attention from potential buyers— they also sell faster and for more money, according to data from the National Association of Realtors’® 2025 Profile of Home Staging.  

The report, which surveys the experiences of both buyers and sellers agents, found that 29% of real estate agents said staging a home led to offers 1% to 10% higher than un-staged homes. Forty-nine percent of agents reported that staging helped reduce the amount of time a home spent on the market. 

Buyers’ perception of staging 

The report also highlights how home staging shapes buyer perceptions. Eighty-three percent of buyers agents said staging makes it easier for buyers to visualize a home as their future residence. Sixty percent reported that staging affects some buyers’ impressions, while 26% said it influenced most buyers. Only a small percentage — 12% — believed staging had no impact at all. 

Thirty-two percent of agents said staging positively impacts the home value if the home was decorated to a buyer’s taste, and 31% said buyers were more willing to walk through a home they saw online. Agents also reported that photos (73%), physical staging (57%), videos (48%) and virtual tours (43%) were highly important to buyers browsing online listings. 

While the living room ranked as the most important space to stage (cited by 37% of buyers agents), primary bedrooms (34%) and kitchens (23%) followed closely. Guest and children’s bedrooms were considered far less important, with 7% and 22%, respectively, saying they mattered in the staging process. 

In terms of a home’s dollar value, 17% of buyers agents said that staging a home increased the value offered by between 1% and5 %, compared to other homes on the market that weren’t staged. On the other hand, 41% of buyers agents reported that staging a home had no impact on the dollar value offered. 

Sellers’ perception of staging 

Despite the clear benefits, 21% of sellers agents said they stage all their listings, while 51% recommend sellers declutter or fix visible issues instead. Only 10% of agents said they staged homes that were difficult to sell.  

The median cost of hiring a professional stager was reported at $1,500, compared to $500 when handled by the agent. 

The living room is the most staged room, according to 91% of sellers agents. The primary bedroom and dining room followed at 83% and 69%, respectively. The kitchen, while typically the most used room in the house, is staged by 68% of agents. 

Paying for the staging can be approached in typically one of two ways, according to the report, though 26% report it depends on the scenario. Twenty-three percent of agents personally offer to stage the home, while 17% said the seller pays to stage the home before listing. 

Compared to the buyers agent’s perspective, 19% of the sellers agents report an increase of between 1% and 5% of the dollar value offered by buyers. Thirty percent reported no impact on the dollar value.  

The impact of staging continues to be reflected positively, as 31% of sellers’ agents report a slight decrease in time on market when a home is staged. 

Choosing a staging service 

Given the many options sellers agents can choose for a staging service, the No. 1 factor taken into consideration by 63% is the quality of the design. Closely following by 51% is the price of the staging service. Customer service and the quality of furniture are tied, with 31% reporting their importance. 

“The typical home seller resides in their home for 10 years before selling,” Jessica Lautz, NAR’s deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said. “During their time in a home, sellers can easily overlook elements that might turn off buyers. Staging allows agents to highlight a property’s best features and help sellers receive the most competitive offers.” 

How TV influences homebuyer expectations  

TV shows have also added a new layer of expectation to the buying process. Nearly half of buyers (48%) expect homes to look as polished as those featured on home improvement shows, and 58% reported disappointment when homes looked differently than portrayed on TV shows. Agents are feeling that pressure, too — 77% said these shows set unrealistic expectations, while 60% believe they raise buyers’ standards for home appearance. 

While an overwhelming number of agents believe TV shows set unrealistic expectations, 77% report that they are not influenced to stage homes as they would see them on TV. 

Twenty-one percent of respondents said that TV shows that portray the buying process impacted their business, while 49% said they do not.  

Inside the mind of a homebuyer  

The report also offers insight into how today’s homebuyers search for and evaluate potential properties. 

Seventy-nine percent of respondents said buyers had a location in mind, while 76% reported that buyers already had a vision of their ideal home before beginning the process. 

The stress of home shopping was clear, with 43% of respondents saying buyers expected the process to be difficult, and 38% believing it would be neither easy nor hard. 

In turn, 38% of respondents said that buyers found the home process to be harder than expected, and 27% said that buyers found the process to be easier than expected. 

Many buyers are looking for homes with the potential to flip or remodel. In the past five years, 48% of respondents reported that the share of buyers looking to flip a home has remained unchanged. Interestingly, 48% of respondents also reported that the share of buyers who planned to flip a home also remained unchanged.  

A key part of the homebuying process is viewing multiple properties before narrowing down the options. However, 61% of respondents reported that buyers did not have a set expectation for how many homes they would tour before making a purchase. 

Fifty-five percent of respondents stated that their buyers’ expectations regarding the number of homes they would view before making a purchase aligned with the market. 

Looking ahead  

The results from the 2025 Profile of Home Staging report not only explores sellers agent’s vs buyers agent’s perceptions, its provides insight into how staging affects the overall process of selling a home. Overall, staging a home not only boosts sale prices, but it also reduces the time on the market, proving a clear benefit for real estate agents.