Evidence library
The statistics behind home staging
Every figure here carries its source and date. Staged homes in New Zealand and overseas consistently sell faster and attract stronger offers, and we label each figure so you can see whether it is NZ or overseas data, an agent survey, agent-reported or industry-reported.
How to read these figures: results vary with the home, the price band and the market. NZ data comes first; overseas figures are tagged "US data", agent surveys are tagged "agent survey", figures published by real estate agencies are tagged "agent-reported", and figures published by staging businesses are tagged "industry-reported".
Manawatū-Whanganui: Beautiful Living
NZ data · industry-reported
50.5%
faster sales for homes staged by Beautiful Living than the REINZ Manawatū-Whanganui median, October 2025 to July 2026.
NZ data · industry-reported
20–26 days
monthly median days to sell for Beautiful Living's staged homes, against a Manawatū-Whanganui median of 36 to 52 days, October 2025 to July 2026.
NZ data · industry-reported
46.5%
faster sales for homes staged by Savvy Home Staging than the REINZ Manawatū-Whanganui average, September to November 2025 (21.5 days vs 40 days).
Savvy Home Staging, “Sell faster, stress less in the Manawatū”, 2025
Auckland: The Look
NZ data · industry-reported
28 days
on market for inner-city apartments staged by The Look, against 45 days for unstaged apartments.
The Look, aggregated data from The Look and local agents, 2023
NZ data · industry-reported
35 days
on market for suburban family homes staged by The Look, against 60 days unstaged.
The Look, aggregated data from The Look and local agents, 2023
NZ data · industry-reported
60 days
on market for executive homes staged by The Look, against 90 days unstaged.
The Look, aggregated data from The Look and local agents, 2023
NZ data · industry-reported
5–7%
above rateable value: where offers on Auckland homes staged by The Look often landed in 2023 and 2024.
The Look, “Home Staging Auckland NZ: Complete Guide for First-Time Home Sellers”, 2026
Auckland: Ray White Blockhouse Bay
NZ data · agent-reported
5–15%
more on sale price for a well-staged home than an unstaged equivalent, according to NZ real estate experts cited by Ray White Blockhouse Bay.
Ray White Blockhouse Bay, “Value of home staging”, October 2025
Agent-reported
Only 10%
of people can effectively visualise the potential of a vacant room, according to studies cited by Ray White Blockhouse Bay.
Ray White Blockhouse Bay, “Value of home staging”, October 2025
NZ data · agent-reported
$2,000–$4,000+
typical cost of professional staging in NZ for a standard four- to six-week campaign, depending on home size.
Ray White Blockhouse Bay, “Value of home staging”, October 2025
Overseas research and NZ market baselines
US data · agent survey
83%
of US real estate agents said staging made it easier for buyers to visualise the property as their future home.
National Association of Realtors (US), 2025 Profile of Home Staging
US data · agent survey
29%
of US real estate agents reported a 1% to 10% increase in the dollar value offered on staged homes.
US data · agent survey
49%
of US real estate agents said staging reduced time on market.
US data · agent survey
37% / 34% / 23%
of US real estate agents named the living room, primary bedroom and kitchen as the most important rooms to stage.
US data · industry-reported
107%
of list price achieved by staged homes in the Real Estate Staging Association's Q1 2025 sample.
Real Estate Staging Association (North America), Q1 2025 Market Insights
US data · industry-reported
19 days
average days on market across 129 professionally staged homes, Q3 2025.
Real Estate Staging Association (North America), stager-submitted data
NZ data
50 days
national median days to sell, July 2026, the fifth-slowest July since records began in 1992.
NZ data
46 days
national median days to sell, September 2026, up 3 days on September 2025.
NZ data
34,001
homes for sale nationally in September 2026, up 10.7% on September 2025, so buyers have more listings to choose between.
Sources
- Beautiful Living: The Empty House Tax (September 2026)
- The Look: Home staging and property sales in New Zealand (2025)
- The Look: Home staging Auckland NZ, complete guide for first-time home sellers (2026)
- Savvy Home Staging: Does home staging really work? The evidence behind the impact (2025)
- Savvy Home Staging: Sell faster, stress less in the Manawatū (2025)
- Savvy Home Staging: The ROI of home staging (2025)
- Paul Sumich, Ray White Bream Bay: Is home staging worth it when selling a house in New Zealand? (April 2026)
- Ray White Blockhouse Bay: Value of home staging (October 2025)
- NAR: Home staging boosts sale prices and reduces time on market (2025)
- REINZ July 2026 figures via Property Brokers
- REINZ New Zealand Property Report, September 2026
- Real Estate Staging Association: staging statistics
- settled.govt.nz: Preparing your property for sale
- Resene Habitat: Home interior colour predictions for 2026
REINZ figures are refreshed monthly. Overseas figures are shown for context and are never presented as New Zealand outcomes.