Throwing Shade: These Are the Colours Homebuyers Are Paying More For

How homebuyers are reacting to colour

Zillow surveyed recent and prospective homebuyers to find out which colours they felt were worth paying a higher price. (And taking out a bigger mortgage at today's near-record-low rates.)

Of the 15 colours the survey's participants were shown, these were the ones consumers said were most likely to increase — or decrease — their bids for, depending on the room.

In the bathroom

Light blue is currently the most popular colour for bathrooms. Zillow's survey participants said a light-blue bathroom would be enough to justify a 1.6% higher offer price.

Neutral colours — grey, dark grey, light yellow and off-white — were found to increase the likelihood that participants would either choose to view a home or make a higher bid.

While light yellow was considered attractive as a bathroom hue, bright yellows, greens and reds, and pink were all considered turnoffs.

“Buyers tend to veer away from vibrant colours in the bathroom, so it is best to go with a softer shade," Zillow says in its report.

In the kitchen

White walls in the kitchen increased interest in touring or purchasing a home among survey participants.

But interestingly, their preferred alternatives to white weren't just neutral colours. While light yellow and off-white scored well, dark greys, reds and greens also caught more than a few eyes.

As with the bathroom, participants were not keen on intense colours for kitchens. Bright greens, pinks, yellows and reds all drew negative reactions.

“Bright red could decrease the price that buyers would be willing to offer by nearly $1,500, on average,” Zillow says. “A kitchen painted bright yellow was least likely to inspire intentions of purchasing the home.”

In the living room

Grey rules supreme when it comes to preferred living room colours, with light green, white, dark grey and light yellow also scoring positively.

Light green, Zillow says, “brought an average offer-price increase of several hundreds" of dollars.

The usual suspects, pink, bright green and bright yellow, scored poorly for living room colour.

“On average, bright green and bright yellow living rooms decreased interest among surveyed buyers to tour a property,” says Zillow. “Both colours, on average, had a negative effect on prospective offer prices.”

In the bedroom

Though neutral colours were the top pick for bathrooms, kitchens and living rooms, Zillow’s survey participants were a little more adventurous about the boudoir. Dark blue was the bedroom colour that would most increase the average price consumers were willing to offer.

Light blue was another strong performer, along with white, bright blue and dark grey.

Yet again, bright yellow, bright green and pink were least likely to have a positive impact on buyers.

“In a separate survey of potential buyers and sellers, both groups claimed they’d be less likely to paint a room any of those colours, regardless of the room’s purpose," Zillow says.

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Another view on hue

In December, the pigment experts at Pantone chose not one, but two "colours of the year" for 2021. One tracks with Zillow’s findings; the other, not so much.

The first, which Pantone calls “Ultimate Grey," is slightly on the darker side of the grey spectrum, and comparable to a classic grey crayon.

Zillow’s survey participants had a positive reaction to dark grey in every room.

Pantone christened its second colour of the year “Illuminating.” While not a bright yellow, it’s not exactly subtle. It’s sunny, and a lot more pronounced than the light yellow Zillow’s respondents gravitated toward.

You'll want to keep Zillow's colour findings in mind and think hard before choosing brighter paints, if getting the highest offer for your home is the plan. (And why wouldn't it be?)

Get more green into your bank account

A desire to pocket an extra few hundred dollars might be a smart reason for repainting your home. But there are other, less labor-intensive things you can do to generate more money.

If you haven’t done it yet, consider refinancing your mortgage. Rates are once again near all-time lows, so a refi could shrink your monthly mortgage payment substantially.

Another good way to free up extra cash is to whittle down your high-interest debt, and stop it from eating away at your budget. A low-interest debt consolidation loan can help you cut your interest costs and wipe out your debt faster.

Or, instead of spending money on paint, you could have a brush with the stock market. A popular app helps you to invest in a diversified portfolio using little more than spare change left over from your everyday purchases.