Home Staging Is an Investment That Creates 'Profit,' Not 'Cost' [Kim Yongnam's Real Estate Asset Management]

Home staging, which originated in the United States, has established itself as a new standard in the global real estate market. It has emerged as a key strategy that goes beyond simple interior decoration to induce an emotional connection with buyers and contribute to actual profit generation.

According to a 2025 report by the U.S. National Association of Realtors (NAR), even basic tasks like decluttering and changing lighting can have a real impact on the speed and price of a home sale. It is time to view home staging not as an incidental ‘decoration,’ but as an essential strategy for a successful sale.

The report found that 83% of agents said home staging helps potential buyers imagine the space as their own future home. 60% said a staged home gives a positive first impression. In fact, 19% of seller’s agents saw a 15% increase in the offer price, and 10% experienced a 6-10% increase. For example, for a $1 million home, this means a profit difference of up to $100,000, or about 130 million won.

The essence of home staging is ‘emotional connection.’ It’s about evoking the feeling of “I want to live here” the moment one enters the house. To achieve this, experts maximize the space’s appeal by removing unnecessary items, using neutral colors, arranging furniture efficiently, and utilizing natural light. The living room, master bedroom, and kitchen are particularly key spaces that have a decisive impact on a buyer’s first impression.

The cost-effectiveness is also clear. While it costs an average of $1,500 to hire a professional and about $500 to do it yourself, you can expect to earn tens of thousands of dollars in profit. This is not a ‘cost,’ but a clear ‘investment.’

Home staging is now expanding beyond residential to commercial real estate. ‘Office home staging’ is active in the United States and Europe. Staging that matches the tenant’s industry and size increases the rate of successful lease agreements and, at the time of sale, maximizes the space’s potential usability to secure favorable terms.

The home staging markets in Japan and Korea are also growing rapidly. In Japan, the ‘Japandi’ style is popular, while in Korea, various styles coexist, from Hanok sensibility to new-tro styles and character-centered staging. In particular, the activation of interior platforms like ‘Ohouse’ is rapidly changing consumer perception and contributing to the spread of home staging demand.

Furthermore, ‘virtual staging’ technology, which digitally stages furniture and interiors, is on the rise in the U.S., Japan, and Korea. In Korea, the service is available at a reasonable cost of around 10,000 won per image. Immersive content based on virtual reality (VR) is also gradually expanding. This acts as a particularly effective marketing tool for the younger generation, including MZ, who explore homes online. As it can be usefully applied to vacant properties that are difficult to stage physically or in the pre-renovation stage, it is highly likely to become the new standard in the home staging market in the future.

It is noteworthy that home staging is also a useful strategy in the small and medium-sized building market where vacancy rates are increasing. The key is to give tenants a positive first impression, which can be a practical solution to increase lease success rates and reduce long-term vacancies.

In conclusion, home staging is a strategic tool that has both emotional persuasiveness and investment profitability. In an era where ‘how to show it’ is more important than ‘how much to sell it for,’ home staging is becoming the new language of real estate marketing.

<Korea Economic The Moneyist> Kim Yongnam, CEO and President of GlobalPMC Co., Ltd.