While most consider paint color a design choice, walls painted in a shade of blue or light gray can have an economic benefit as well and possibly help a home sell for an average of $5,440 more than expected, according to Zillow’s 2017 Paint Color Analysis. Bathrooms painted in powder blue or periwinkle had the highest sales of all colors analyzed with natural tones, such as pale gray or oatmeal, trailing right behind.
In the real estate website’s research published June 1, it looked through 32,000 photos of homes sold in the U.S. between 2010 and February 2017. To determine how certain paint colors impacted the sale price, Zillow compared the room type and color combinations to similar homes with white walls, controlling for all other wall colors, square footage, the age of the home, the date of the transaction and location, according to Zillow. Then, it analyzed the difference in selling price between the home’s Zestimate (the starting point of the estimated market value of a home) and the actual selling price.
"Color can be a powerful tool for attracting buyers to a home, especially in listing photos and videos," Svenja Gudell, Zillow chief economist, says in a press release. "Painting walls in fresh, natural-looking colors, particularly in shades of blue and pale gray not only make a home feel larger, but also are neutral enough to help future buyers envision themselves living in the space.”
While light blues and soft grays show an increase, other colors may deter buyers. Homes with dark red dining rooms sold for $2,031 less than expected and straw yellow kitchens sold for $820 less. However, keeping walls white had the largest negative impact, with white bathrooms selling for $4,035 less than other homes.
The exterior paint color might also have an impact on selling price. The analysis reports homes painted in “greige,” a mix of light gray and beige, sold for $3,496 more and homes with navy blue front doors sold for $1,514 more.
