Think twice before painting the walls of your house this color it could lower your sale price by thousands

Homeowners preparing to sell may want to rethink their paint choices before listing, according to new research from Zillow — which shows that certain colors can shave tens of thousands of dollars off a property’s final sale price.The real estate platform’s 2026 Paint Color Analysis, which surveyed more than 4,400 recent and prospective buyers, examined how bedroom, kitchen, living room and bathroom colors affected buyer interest, tour intentions and willingness to pay.The findings challenge the longstanding assumption that neutral whites are the safest bet for sellers.The biggest loser? Ochre yellow. When the muddy golden hue is applied throughout an entire home, it can reduce offers by an estimated $18,164, the study found.

Just painting a kitchen that shade alone can knock $6,630 off a buyer’s bid.Fire-hydrant red bathrooms and pale pink walls also ranked among the worst performers across every room tested.On the flip side, sellers who choose their colors wisely could pocket thousands more at closing.Chocolate brown bedrooms, once dismissed as dated, are the study’s top performer, with the Sherwin-Williams shade Turkish Coffee associated with offers averaging $2,277 higher than comparable white rooms.

Charcoal gray and sage green rounded out the top bedroom choices.In the kitchen, moody and bold hues are proving their worth.Charcoal gray walls were linked to offers nearly $1,373 above asking, while dark plum generated an $867 bump. Zillow found the spread between the best and worst kitchen colors amounted to roughly $8,000 in offer price impact, making it the single most consequential room for paint decisions.The living room rewards a softer touch.

Pale blue walls outperformed all other colors in that space and were tied to offers averaging $1,723 higher than white rooms.“Tradewind introduces softness and airiness to the space while still feeling intentional, offering a fresh alternative to white that enhances a sense of openness without sacrifici...