Colour Me

COLOUR ME T outed as the most-visited real estate website in the United States, Zillow made news last year when the company announced plans to exit the home-flipping business because of an inability to accurately predict housing prices. an inability to accurately predict housing prices.

Can the wrong shade of paint cost sellers some big dollars?

Nevertheless, a survey Zillow conducted last year Nevertheless, a survey Zillow conducted last year came up with some interesting insights in relation to colour and its effects on buyers. It is generally accepted that home buyers prefer to see neutral tones used on walls when they are at open homes or viewing property online and that ‘in your face’ colours can turn them off, but the survey showed that neutral tones were even more likely to please the potential buyers depending on the room itself. Shared spaces such as kitchens, living rooms and bathrooms proved to definitely be the place for neutral colours. However, it appears that buyers were prepared to be a bit more adventurous with their colour preferences in bedrooms, though sellers would be best to steer away from colouring these rooms with bright yellows, greens or pinks. The study analysed 15 paint colours in various room types to find which colours might boost a home’s potential sale price. It found that in some cases, spending less than $100 on the right shade of paint might put an additional few hundred or even thousands of dollars in the pocket of the seller. Survey respondents who saw a bathroom with light blue walls said they’d be willing to pay nearly two per cent more. In fact, light blue was one of the most popular paint choices of the survey. Bathrooms featuring other neutral and ‘delicate’ colours, including off-white, light yellow and multiple shades of grey, also drew positive responses from survey respondents.

These colours were generally popular in living rooms as well, although grey emerged as the winner here.

White was clearly the best-performing colour in the kitchen from a buyer perspective followed by other safe neutral tones. Interestingly, survey respondents also favoured some darker hues that weren’t as popular in other rooms, including dark reds and greens.

When it came to the bedroom, one dark colour in particular was the most likely to invoke a feeling of home in the minds of buyers: dark blue. Also welcomed in bedrooms were light and bright blues, dark grey and simple white.

In summary, the survey findings suggested that buyers were uneasy about over-ambitious, bright-coloured paint jobs in living room and bathroom spaces; but, as long as the person behind the colour choice didn’t get too adventurous, other colours were more acceptable in kitchens and bedrooms.

In addition, Zillow had carried out a different survey on use of wall colours, seeking input from real estate agents. The conclusions were largely the same. Almost all agents in that survey said they’d recommend repainting any room that featured bright pinks, greens or purples before taking the property to market.