Attention, home sellers: having chef-friendly amenities can help speed the purchase of your property, often for a higher price.
According to new research from Zillow Group (NASDAQ: Z, ZG), many buyers are willing to pay extra of luxury amenities. For example, listings that highlighted culinary appliances such as a steam oven or a pizza oven can result in sales for as much as 5.3% more than similar homes lacking these features – which adds up to about $17,400 on a typical home. And more practical amenities such as doorbell cameras and fenced backyards have been shown boost sale speeds.
Zillow analyzed 271 features and design terms mentioned in listing descriptions across nearly 2 million home sales in 2022. In its analysis, Zillow determined that homes that offered more than traditional finishes sold for more money – for example, properties with terrazzo can sell for 2.6% more, or $8,511 on a typical home. Listings that mentioned the presence of soapstone was shown help sell homes for 2.5% more and four days faster than similar homes lacking this feature.
However, certain home features cited in a listing description can have the opposite effect. Zillow found listings that identified tile countertops could sell for 1.1% less than expected, while homes with laminate flooring or countertops can sell for 0.6% less than similar homes. Walk-in closets were not an asset – Zillow found their presence in a listing could dilute a home’s value by 0.7%.
“Not every buyer will appreciate a chef’s kitchen or a putting green in their backyard, but those who do are willing to pay more for these personalized amenities,” said Amanda Pendleton, Zillow’s home trends expert. “Post-pandemic home buyers who had plenty of time for self-reflection now have a greater sense of what they want and need in a home.”
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You have to be careful with statistics and causality. Did terrazzo really cause a house to sell for more money or is it all of the other updates that were done by the owners and the terrazo was just icing on the cake? Conversely, did the tile countertop cause a house to sell for less or is the tile countertop emblematic of all the other updates that the sellers haven’t done? I would have a hard time believing that walk-in closets caused houses to sell for less. I don’t know which planet that Zillow did this study on, but on Earth we love our walk-in closets and are willing to pay for them!
Agree with Robert 100%, expensive or luxury features will normally be indicative of finishes of the rest of the house. Outdated countertops will also probably mean outdated cabinets and flooring. You would have to compare like homes in a like market that only had the single differential to determine if that’s what made the home sell for more. The idea that a walk in closet doesn’t add value is ridiculous. Perhaps in a higher end listing walk in closets are assumed and the agents just didn’t include in the description? Unless you were in a city where people live in small apartments where the living space square footage was more valuable, I can’t imagine a world where anyone would be paying less for a walk in closet.
Texans love their walk in closets – It is not a luxury , it is a must. So I agreed with the above comments on this research, and the article. A house that has been updated with current finishes and neutral colors tend to sell higher. We all know that. A pizza oven or a BBQ patio may bring extras to the table – but if the bathrooms are pink tile and avocado colors from the 50’s – not pizza oven, it doesn’t matter how is built or installed will justify the above market price.
I am so happy that agents can articulate how data is being interpreted by Zillow and misleading the buying and selling public.