The housing market is beginning to slow as high mortgage rates scare away buyers, but savvy sellers are employing tactics that can help move a home more quickly.
Key Details
- Housing prices are beginning to drop following several years of market volatility.
- On March 26, the median home price was $361,000—a 2% decline from the same time last year, according to Redfin.
- In addition to lower prices, sellers are also competing with rising mortgage rates, which are over 6%.
- Sellers must strike a balance between an enticing offer for buyers while fetching the highest price possible. Some surprising features in a home can give a buyer the final push to purchase.
Why it’s news
A few short years ago, sellers could expect to make a considerable profit when selling their home. During and shortly after the pandemic, bidding wars pushed housing prices thousands of dollars above asking. Now sellers are scrambling for buyer incentives to get their home off the market more quickly.
Fortunately for sellers today, current buyers appear willing to pay extra for certain luxuries in homes, according to Zillow. Including items in a listing such as steam and pizza ovens, professional grade appliances, and other chef-friendly amenities can bring in as much as 5.3% more than similar homes in the area. Trendy features like she sheds or terrazzo can boost the sale price by 2.5% if included in the listing description.
Practical items too, like doorbell cameras, fenced-in backyards, or heat pumps, can make a home sell faster. These features are often relatively easy for the seller to add to the house before listing.
However, these perks will not appeal to every buyer. While some buyers may pay high dollar for a home with professional kitchen appliances, not every buyer is interested in these amenities. Personalized additions—like a “she shed,” female version of a man cave—may result in a longer time on the market, but when the home does sell, it can fetch a higher overall price. For example, homes with wine cellars sit on the market two days more than the average but sell for 2.5% more.
Just like certain features can bring a higher selling price, others can bring that price down. Tile countertops, for example, can drag down the final price by as much as 1.1%, according to Zillow.
Items that make a home stand out
Here are a few items that can attract more buyers and how much they can potentially raise the selling price.
- Steam oven—5.3%
- Pizza oven—3.7%
- Professional appliances—3.6%
- Terrazzo—2.6%
- She shed—2.5%
- Soapstone—2.5%
- Quartz—2.4%
- Modern farmhouse—2.4%
- Hurricane shutters/storm shutters—2.3%
- Mid-century design—2.3%
These items may not have much effect on the price, but houses with these features tend to sell faster.
- Doorbell camera—5.1 days
- Soapstone—3.8 days
- Open shelving—3.5 days
- Heat pump—3 days
- Fenced backyard—2.9 days
- Mid-century—2.8 days
- Hardwood—2.4 days
- Walkable—2.4 days
- Shiplap—2.3 days
- Gas furnace–2.3 days
