Home staging mainly helps buyers picture the home: in NAR's 2025 survey, 83% of buyers' agents said so, 29% of sellers' agents saw offers 1% to 10% higher and 30% saw a slight drop in time on market. Median spend on a US staging service is $1,500; AI virtual staging costs $0.25 to $3 per photo.
Does home staging work? The best available data says it mainly helps buyers picture themselves in the home and, in a meaningful share of cases, lifts offers and shortens time on market. This page brings together verifiable statistics on home staging, virtual staging, costs, listing photos and the rules on AI images, each with its source, year and link. We don't publish figures without a primary source you can check. Updated October 2026 by the editorial team at staged.ai (home-staged.ai).
Does home staging help sell homes? Effectiveness data
Yes, according to most agents surveyed, though the effect varies. The most robust source is the 2025 Profile of Home Staging from the US National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).
| Statistic | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buyers' agents: staging makes it easier to visualise the property as a future home | 83% | >NAR | 2025 |
| Buyers' agents: staging affects most buyers' view of the home | 26% | >NAR | 2025 |
| Buyers' agents: staging affects some buyers, but not always | 60% | >NAR | 2025 |
| Sellers' agents: 1% to 10% increase in the dollar value offered | 29% | >PA Realtors, NAR data | 2025 |
| Sellers' agents: 1% to 5% increase versus similar homes | 19% | >NAR report PDF | 2025 |
| Sellers' agents: slight decrease in time on market | 30% | >NAR report PDF | 2025 |
| Sellers' agents: time on market greatly decreased | 19% | >NAR report PDF | 2025 |
| Sellers' agents: no effect on time on market | 17% | >NAR report PDF | 2025 |
What it means. The strongest, most widely shared effect is on perception: staging makes a home easier to imagine living in. Price and speed effects are reported by a sizeable minority of agents, not a majority, and they are agents' estimates rather than measured prices.
How common is staging, and which rooms get staged?
| Statistic | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sellers' agents who stage all sellers' homes before listing | 21% | >NAR | 2025 |
| Agents who only stage homes that are difficult to sell | 10% | >NAR | 2025 |
| Most staged room: living room | 91% | >NAR | 2025 |
| Primary bedroom | 83% | >NAR | 2025 |
| Dining room | 69% | >NAR | 2025 |
| Kitchen | 68% | >PA Realtors, NAR data | 2025 |
| Least staged: guest bedroom and children's bedroom | 22% each | >PA Realtors, NAR data | 2025 |
What it means. On a tight budget, focus on the living room, main bedroom and kitchen. Those are the rooms agents invest in most.
What do agents recommend before listing?
| Agent recommendation to sellers | Share | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Declutter the home | 91% | >PA Realtors, NAR data | 2025 |
| Clean the entire home | 88% | >PA Realtors, NAR data | 2025 |
| Improve curb appeal | 77% | >PA Realtors, NAR data | 2025 |
What it means. The most recommended steps cost little or nothing. Our home staging checklist turns them into room-by-room actions.
How much do photos, video and virtual staging matter?
| Rated much more or more important to clients | Share | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photos (buyers' agents) | 73% | >NAR report PDF | 2025 |
| Photos (sellers' agents) | 88% | >NAR report PDF | 2025 |
| Traditional physical staging (buyers' agents) | 57% | >NAR report PDF | 2025 |
| Videos (buyers' agents) | 48% | >NAR report PDF | 2025 |
| Virtual tours (buyers' agents) | 43% | >NAR report PDF | 2025 |
| Virtual staging rated less important (buyers' / sellers' agents) | 33% / 34% | >NAR report PDF | 2025 |
What it means. Photos are the top factor. Virtual staging is seen as less impactful than physical staging, but it works precisely on photos, at a fraction of the cost. Full comparison in virtual staging vs traditional staging.
How much does staging cost? US, Italy and AI benchmarks
| Item | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median spend using a staging service (US) | $1,500 | >NAR report PDF | 2025 |
| Median spend when the agent stages personally (US) | $500 | >NAR report PDF | 2025 |
| AI virtual staging, subscription | $0.25 – $3 per photo | >AI Tools Bakery | 2026 |
| AI virtual staging, pay-per-image | about $1.10 – $2 per image | >AI Tools Bakery | 2026 |
| Designer-made virtual staging | $16 – $39 per image | >AI Tools Bakery | 2026 |
| Physical staging (benchmark) | $2,000 – $6,000+ per month | >AI Tools Bakery | 2026 |
| Basic home staging (Italy) | €300 – €1,500 | >Cronoshare | 2026 |
| Full home staging (Italy) | €1,700 – €5,000+ | >Cronoshare | 2026 |
| Traditional virtual staging by 3D studios (Italy) | from €200 | >Cronoshare | 2026 |
| Professional property photos (Italy) | €60 – €300+ | >Cronoshare | 2026 |
What it means. AI staging and physical staging differ by two to three orders of magnitude in cost. Worked examples and hidden costs are in how much virtual staging costs.
What does renovation cost in Italy? (for buyers weighing a fixer-upper)
| Item | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light renovation | €700 – €1,000 per m² | >Il Giornale Edile | 2026 |
| Medium renovation | €1,000 – €1,500 per m² | >Il Giornale Edile | 2026 |
| Full renovation | €1,500 – €2,000+ per m² | >Il Giornale Edile | 2026 |
| Full bathroom | €6,000 – €12,000 | >Il Giornale Edile | 2026 |
| Full renovation, Milan | €1,100 – €1,600 per m² | >Il Giornale Edile | 2026 |
| Full renovation, South (Naples, Bari) | €750 – €1,150 per m² | >Il Giornale Edile | 2026 |
What it means. One square metre is about 10.8 sq ft. For homes that need work, a renovation visualisation with a cost estimate often says more than furnishing. Regional detail in renovation costs in Italy.
What do portals expect from listing photos?
| Statistic (Immobiliare.it, Italy) | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum photos for a full photo score | 10 | >Immobiliare.it | 2026 |
| Minimum resolution | 1,024 px on the long side (below it, photo score halved) | >Immobiliare.it | 2026 |
| Extra contacts for listings with quality above 80% | +15–18% on average | >Immobiliare.it | 2026 |
What it means. Photo count and quality affect how visible a listing is. How to shoot them: real estate listing photos tips.
What rules apply to AI images in listings?
| Rule | Key figure | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU AI Act Art. 50(4): deployers must disclose deep fakes | applies from 2 August 2026 | >AI Act Art. 50 | 2026 |
| EU AI Act: fines for transparency breaches | up to €15m or 3% of worldwide turnover | >Euronews | 2026 |
| UK DMCC Act 2024: unfair practices regime in force | from 6 April 2025; CMA fines up to 10% of global turnover | >Intellopro | 2025 |
| US NAR Code of Ethics Art. 12: "true picture" in advertising; SoP 12-10 bans misleading images | in force | >NAR | 2025 |
What it means. AI-staged photos should be labelled and shown with the original. Full guide: virtual staging disclosure rules.
Methodology and limits
- NAR 2025: survey sent in February 2025 to 49,806 agents, 1,266 usable responses, 2.5% response rate, margin of error ±2.75% at 95% confidence (>report PDF). It measures US agents' opinions, not transaction prices.
- Costs: Cronoshare and Il Giornale Edile ranges are Italian market averages; AI Tools Bakery benchmarks are in US dollars and mostly US-based.
- What we don't know: as of October 2026 we found no public, controlled European study on staging's effect on price or time on market. Very high "sells faster" percentages circulate online without a primary source you can check; we leave them out.
To cite this page: "staged.ai, Home staging statistics 2026, October 2026", plus the primary source listed in the table for each figure.
Frequently asked questions
Does home staging really increase the sale price?
The evidence points to a positive but not guaranteed effect. In the NAR 2025 Profile of Home Staging, 29% of sellers' agents reported offers 1% to 10% higher for staged homes compared with similar homes. These are US agents' perceptions rather than controlled experiments, so treat them as an indicator, not a promise for any single property.
How reliable is the NAR home staging survey?
It is the most widely cited source and publishes its methodology: a February 2025 survey sent to 49,806 agents, with 1,266 usable responses, a 2.5% response rate and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.75 points at 95% confidence. It measures agents' opinions, not actual sale prices, which is its main limitation.
Is there data comparing virtual staging with physical staging?
Only indirect data. In NAR's 2025 survey, 57% of buyers' agents rated traditional physical staging as much more or more important to clients, while 33% rated virtual staging as of less importance. Photos ranked highest at 73%. As of October 2026 we found no controlled study comparing the two methods on final sale price.
Are there European home staging statistics?
On costs, yes: Italian marketplace Cronoshare publishes 2026 price ranges, from €300 for basic staging to over €5,000 for a full project. On price and time-on-market effects, we found no European study with a public methodology comparable to NAR's as of October 2026, which is why the effectiveness data on this page is from the US and labelled as such.
Sources
- NAR, 2025 Profile of Home Staging (overview page)
- NAR, 2025 Profile of Home Staging (report PDF)
- Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, summary of the NAR report (29 Jul 2025)
- AI Tools Bakery, Virtual staging AI cost (2026)
- Cronoshare, Home staging costs in Italy (2026, in Italian)
- Il Giornale Edile, Renovation cost per square metre 2026 (in Italian)
- Immobiliare.it for agencies, Listing quality (in Italian)
- AI Act Article 50, artificialintelligenceact.eu
- Euronews, Could the EU AI Act deter housefishing in European real estate? (25 Sep 2026)
- Intellopro, AI images in property marketing: the UK rules
- NAR, Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice