Homes with Chef-Inspired Kitchen Features Sell for Up to 34 Percent More; Yet Millennial Buyers Pay Premiums for Pizza and Wine

SEATTLE, April 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A home's listed features can have a significant impact on how much it sells for and how quickly it sells. Zillow's 2019 Home Features that Sell Analysis found that for-sale listings mentioning 'steam oven' or 'professional appliance' sold for up to 34 percent more than expected.  Six out of the top ten features in homes that sold for more than expected were entertainer-friendly kitchen amenities.  

Zillow® analyzed the listing descriptions from 4.6 million home sales around the country that were posted in 2017 and 2018 to identify what features and design styles fetched a higher sale price or a faster sale that would be expected based on the home's basic traits and location. The analysis also identified the metro area where that feature was most commonly mentioned in for-sale listing descriptions.  

For-sale listings mentioning 'steam ovens,' a wall oven that steams food, saw the highest sale premium of all the keywords analyzed, selling for 34 percent more than expected. However, homes featuring 'steam ovens' were also the slowest to sell, staying on the market 22 days longer than other similar homes in the same metro and price tier. High-end, custom kitchen features may only appeal to certain buyers, but those buyers appear willing to pay more when they find a home with a kitchen that suits their taste.

"Having a steam oven, a heated floor or other luxury features in the home is a signal that there are more than the home's basic features at play. These homes are special. They likely come with an elevated design sense and the extra touches valued by home shoppers who are willing to pay," says Skylar Olsen, director of economic research at Zillow. "If you have these features, flaunt them."

For starter homesⁱ purchased primarily by first-time buyers, listings mentioning 'free-standing tub,' 'pizza oven' or 'wine cellar' sold for more than expected. This could reflect the lifestyle millennialⁱⁱ homeowners want to live and the needs of young families. 

Fast sales were associated with trendy design features made popular by home improvement TV shows, such as 'open shelving' (homes with this feature sold 11 days faster than expected) and 'subway tile' (10 days faster). 

Homes with some features sold for both more than expected and faster than expected. Those features include a 'shed/garage studio' (26% more than expected, 8 days faster than expected), 'exposed brick' (22% more, 9 days faster) and 'mid-century' design style (17% more, 11 days faster.) 

"While it's important to understand what's popular with buyers, ultimately your home is a reflection of your personal style and how you want to live," says Kerrie Kelly, Zillow Design Expert and founder of Kerrie Kelly Design Lab. "You should design a home that makes you happy every day with features you love, knowing that future buyers may want to adapt it to create their own dream home."    

Zillow

Zillow is the leading real estate and rental marketplace dedicated to empowering consumers with data, inspiration and knowledge around the place they call home, and connecting them with great real estate professionals. In addition, Zillow operates an industry-leading economics and analytics bureau led by Zillow Group's Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell. Dr. Gudell and her team of economists and data analysts produce extensive housing data and research covering more than 450 markets at Zillow Real Estate Research. Zillow also sponsors the quarterly Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey, which asks more than 100 leading economists, real estate experts and investment and market strategists to predict the path of the Zillow Home Value Index over the next five years. Launched in 2006, Zillow is owned and operated by Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z and ZG), and headquartered in Seattle.

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ⁱ Starter homes in this analysis are defined as for-sale listings in the bottom third of the price distribution for any given metro area.

ⁱⁱ Per Zillow Group's Consumer Housing Trends Report 2018, 61 percent of first-time buyers are between the ages of 24 and 38.  

SOURCE Zillow