Staging mostly buys you speed, not a higher price. In the National Association of REALTORS 2025 Profile of Home Staging, published May 6, 2025, 49% of sellers’ agents said staging reduced time on market, while only 29% said it raised the dollar value offered, and then by 1% to 10%.
That distinction matters more in Wilmington this fall than it did last spring. Our New Hanover County market update puts the median sale price at $448,000 for the three months ending August 2026, down 3.5% year over year, with the typical home taking 58 days to go under contract against 37 a year earlier. Active listings are up about 10% to 1,249, and price reductions before contract are up 23%. In Brunswick County the median is 98 days, against 67 a year ago.
When a market stretches like that, the cost of sitting is the real cost. Two extra months of mortgage, taxes, insurance and utilities on a $448,000 house is usually several thousand dollars, and the longer a listing sits the more likely it ends in a price cut rather than a negotiation. That is the problem staging is actually good at solving.
What the data actually says about staging
There is one survey most of the industry quotes, and it is worth reading honestly. NAR invited a random sample of 49,806 active Realtors to an online survey in February 2025 and got 1,266 usable responses, a 2.5% response rate, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.75% at the 95% confidence level. It measures what agents believe happened, not what a controlled experiment proved, and a 2.5% response rate means the people who answered may be the people who care about staging. Keep that in mind as you read the numbers.
- 49% of sellers’ agents said staging reduced time on market, 30% slightly and 19% significantly NAR 2025 Profile of Home Staging, May 6, 2025
- 29% of agents said staging raised the dollar value offered by 1% to 10%; among buyers’ agents, 17% reported a 1% to 5% increase NAR 2025 Profile of Home Staging, May 6, 2025
- 83% of buyers’ agents said staging made it easier for a buyer to picture the home as their own; 26% said it affected most buyers, 60% some buyers, 12% none NAR 2025 Profile of Home Staging, May 6, 2025
- Median cost: $1,500 for professional staging, $500 when the agent handled it NAR 2025 Profile of Home Staging, May 6, 2025
- Rooms buyers cared about most: living room 37%, primary bedroom 34%, kitchen 23% NAR 2025 Profile of Home Staging, May 6, 2025
- New Hanover County: $448,000 median sale price, 58 days on market against 37 a year ago, price reductions before contract up 23% Tidal Realty Partners New Hanover County market update, three months ending August 2026
Read those together and the picture is consistent. Staging changes how fast a buyer commits and how easily they imagine living there. It is not a pricing tool. Just over half of sellers’ agents in the same survey said they do not stage at all, and instead recommend decluttering and repairs, which tells you how the profession actually weighs the spend.
Where staging earns its money in this market
Vacant houses are the clearest case. Wilmington has a lot of them on the market right now: relocations that already closed on the next house, estates, second homes in Carolina Beach and Wrightsville Beach that have been sitting since the summer season ended. An empty room reads smaller than a furnished one, gives a buyer no sense of scale, and puts every scuff and seam on the wall in the spotlight. If your house is vacant and over 2,000 square feet, staging the living room, primary bedroom and kitchen is usually the highest-return money you will spend after price.
The second case is competing with new construction, which in this region is a constant. Every featured builder in our new construction section was funding a rate buydown as of September 22, 2026, and they show their product in a decorated model with furniture scaled to the room. A twelve-year-old resale in Leland or Hampstead three miles from that model is being judged against it, often on the same Saturday. You do not have to match the model. You do have to not lose on first impression.
The third case is photography. Most buyers meet your house on a phone screen before they ever drive by, and a furnished room photographs better than an empty one. If the staging budget only stretches far enough to make the photos work, spend it there.
What to spend money on before you spend it on furniture
We tell our sellers to work in this order: price, then condition, then presentation. Price is the only one that can kill a listing by itself. Condition is what a buyer’s inspector will find anyway, which is why we often suggest a pre-listing inspection before the sign goes in the yard, and why the answer to a tired roof is usually a real conversation about replacing it rather than a credit.
Presentation comes third, and it starts with the free and cheap end: clear the counters, take down two thirds of the family photos, pull the dated window treatments, trim the hedges away from the windows, replace dim bulbs with bright ones, and get the pet smell handled. In a coastal market, add one more: open the crawl space vents and dehumidify, because a musty entry costs you more than a bare living room does.
Then, if the house is vacant or the furniture is oversized and dark, price out professional staging. In our market, expect quotes above NAR’s $1,500 national median for a whole first floor, and expect a monthly rental component. Ask for the price in two forms: the full package, and the three rooms that matter.
Staging cannot fix price, and this is where sellers lose money. If a Wilmington house has been on the market 60 days with showings and no offers, the problem is almost never the sofa. A $1,500 staging bill does not close a $25,000 pricing gap, and spending it can delay the price correction by a month, which costs more. Virtual staging has its own trap: 58% of agents in NAR’s 2025 survey said buyers were disappointed when homes did not look the way they were portrayed, so if you stage photos digitally, disclose it in the listing and expect the in-person visit to be a letdown in an empty house. And for an occupied home that is already well kept, the honest recommendation is usually decluttering and a cleaning crew, not rented furniture.
Related questions people also ask
How much does home staging cost?
Nationally the median was $1,500 for a professional staging service and $500 when the listing agent handled it, according to the National Association of REALTORS 2025 Profile of Home Staging published May 6, 2025. Those are medians across all house sizes and all markets, so a whole-house package on a larger coastal home will run well above them, and most local stagers price an initial design fee plus monthly furniture rental. Ask for a quote on three rooms as well as the full house, because the survey found buyers care most about the living room, primary bedroom and kitchen.
Is it better to stage a vacant house or leave it empty?
Stage it, at least partially, if the budget allows. Empty rooms make it harder for buyers to judge scale and furniture fit, and 83% of buyers’ agents in the 2025 NAR survey said staging made it easier for a buyer to picture the home as their own. An empty house also shows every wall and floor imperfection with nothing to draw the eye. If a full package is out of reach, stage the main living space, the primary bedroom and the kitchen counters, and leave the spare bedrooms empty.
Does staging help sell a home faster in Wilmington?
It helps, and speed is worth more here than it was a year ago. The typical New Hanover County home took 58 days to go under contract in the three months ending August 2026 against 37 a year earlier, per our county market update, and price reductions before contract were up 23%. In the 2025 NAR survey, 49% of sellers’ agents said staging reduced time on market. Neither figure guarantees a result on your street, so treat staging as one input alongside accurate pricing and condition.
Before you spend anything, get a realistic price opinion and a room-by-room list of what actually needs attention, in priority order, with a dollar figure next to each line. That walk-through is part of our listing services, including the honest line where we tell you something is not worth doing, and we are glad to talk it through with you before you call a stager.
Sources: National Association of REALTORS, 2025 Profile of Home Staging, published May 6, 2025 (survey of 49,806 Realtors fielded February 2025, 1,266 usable responses, 2.5% response rate, margin of error plus or minus 2.75%); Tidal Realty Partners New Hanover County and Brunswick County market updates, three months ending August 2026; Tidal Realty Partners mortgage update, builder incentive terms as of September 22, 2026.
