- 5 days ago
In this episode of RealTrending, Ginger Wilcox, the president of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, discusses the latest design trends in real estate and their impact on homebuyer behavior. She emphasizes the importance of emotional connections to design, the shift toward functionality in home layouts and the influence of social media on buyer expectations. Wilcox also highlights regional variations in design preferences and offers strategies for agents to leverage these trends in their marketing efforts. The conversation concludes with insights on the future of real estate and the evolving needs of consumers.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
Today's buyers are detail-oriented and expect strong design.
Emotional connections to homes influence buyer decisions.
Design trends are shifting toward functionality and wellness.
Social media impacts what buyers are looking for in homes.
Instagrammable features are becoming essential in marketing.
Regional preferences in design vary, but core themes remain.
Agents should leverage design trends in their marketing strategies.
Understanding consumer behavior is crucial for agents.
Trends in home design are evolving rapidly due to technology.
Livability and functionality are key considerations for buyers.
Related to this episode:
Ginger Wilcox LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gingerwilcox
Better Homes And Gardens Real Estate
https://www.bhgremedia.com/the-experts/bio/ginger-wilcox.html
The RealTrending podcast features conversations with the brightest minds in real estate. Every Monday, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts join us to share their secrets to success, trends, and the lessons they’ve learned. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
Today's buyers are detail-oriented and expect strong design.
Emotional connections to homes influence buyer decisions.
Design trends are shifting toward functionality and wellness.
Social media impacts what buyers are looking for in homes.
Instagrammable features are becoming essential in marketing.
Regional preferences in design vary, but core themes remain.
Agents should leverage design trends in their marketing strategies.
Understanding consumer behavior is crucial for agents.
Trends in home design are evolving rapidly due to technology.
Livability and functionality are key considerations for buyers.
Related to this episode:
Ginger Wilcox LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gingerwilcox
Better Homes And Gardens Real Estate
https://www.bhgremedia.com/the-experts/bio/ginger-wilcox.html
The RealTrending podcast features conversations with the brightest minds in real estate. Every Monday, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts join us to share their secrets to success, trends, and the lessons they’ve learned. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
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NewsTranscript
00:00When you're marketing a house, how do you decide what to put in the listing description to make sure you're enticing buyers?
00:06I spoke with Ginger Wilcox. She is the president of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, and we went over all the design trends for 2026.
00:16We also talked about the integration process of the Compass Anywhere acquisition and handled a couple other trend topics.
00:25So enjoy the podcast. And a special thank you to HomeBot for sponsoring this episode of Real Trending.
00:33Ginger, thanks so much for joining the Real Trending podcast.
00:37Hi, Tracy. It's great to be here.
00:38Yeah, yeah. So beginning of the year, and you kicked things off with a Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Design Trends report.
00:47I want to talk a little bit about that.
00:51So tell me about how that came about, because you've done it for a little bit for several years.
00:55Now, and were there any surprises in this one?
00:59I wouldn't necessarily say that there are surprises.
01:01This report is actually significantly different than the ones that we've done in the past.
01:05We wanted to go much deeper with this report and make sure that we're helping support the current challenges that our agents are having.
01:14And when we think about pricing pressure and the markets evolving, we have slower decision cycles and all of those things.
01:21And so we wanted to ensure that the report captured all of the insights in the way that buyer behavior is ultimately changing and leveraging the deep insights and data that we get through our relationship with People, Inc.
01:35in order to be able to put that together in a way that really helps support what agents need to be able to deliver better service to their clients.
01:42Yeah. So what do you think is like the connection between design and a buyer's emotional response at first look?
01:48Like how big of an influence does design have on a home's like market performance today?
01:54The presentation actually matters now more than ever.
01:58Today's buyers are looking at every detail that is in a listing before they ever actually even walk in the door.
02:06And strong design ultimately helps them imagine what it's like to live in the home, which it becomes very important for today's home buyers who are thinking about things a little bit differently than they have in the past.
02:16Yeah, I find it so interesting because, you know, when I walked into the house that we currently live in, I mean, it was there was a red hallway, there was an orange hallway, there was like, I mean, it was crazy, the bedroom was painted construction orange.
02:32Um, but like, to me, I just, I have had the ability to ignore all of that, right?
02:39Because I saw the butler's pantry and, you know, the game room, it like saw some of the things that I really loved about the house, but I don't find that that's what really happens.
02:50I mean, they're, they're looking for a turnkey.
02:53Oh, this is perfect.
02:54I love it.
02:55It's, it's very true.
02:57When a house creates that emotional connection with a buyer, it actually changes a lot of their decision making and even simple changes to a property.
03:04And we talk about paint a lot, but it makes a big difference because many buyers, unlike yourself, have a hard time visualizing what that future could look like.
03:13And especially with some of the online behavior that we're seeing, people expect things to be turnkey the moment they walk in and any way that the presentation can reflect what buyers are expecting is helpful.
03:24Yeah, absolutely.
03:26So what did you find some of what are some of the highlights, the emerging design trends?
03:32Which ones do you think will most directly impact buyer behavior this year?
03:37The trends that we think will most directly impact buyer behavior are those that are really about daily functionality.
03:43So buyers want those spaces that are going to work with them.
03:46They think about wellness.
03:48They think about work.
03:49They think about family.
03:50They want those flexible layouts that make it easier for them to envision actually living in the space.
03:57We've talked a little bit about social media there.
04:00Social media is having a big impact on what buyers are looking for.
04:04So things that maybe weren't as important in the past become helpful as a seller is thinking about marketing their property.
04:12So those moments that are sort of Instagrammable, the kitchen nook, the coffee bar, those types of things become very impactful.
04:19And I think we'll see that continue to expand.
04:22Did you see, I mean, you know, COVID kind of changed, the talk was that people wanted not, they wanted more closed in spaces, not the open layouts.
04:32Did you see that change back in this report or, you know, what are you seeing?
04:38Yeah, we're definitely seeing a switch from the mass open spaces to more about functionality and how people can use it.
04:45And so that can come in multiple places.
04:47It can come through new actual room layouts, but it doesn't have to be.
04:51It doesn't have to be, you know, walls everywhere because people still like airiness.
04:56They still like light.
04:56But what they're looking for is the ability to imagine a function in a specific space.
05:02So things like screens can be, have a big impact on what buyers can visualize in the space.
05:08But the trend is definitely evolving to more defined spaces than we've seen in the past.
05:15Yeah.
05:16That's, I mean, I think it's interesting.
05:18I've heard that like gray is out too.
05:20So.
05:22And we did see that in some of the color choices people were looking at, right?
05:26You're seeing more of that evolution to some of the browns and other colors that sort of reflect nature and, and how people can feel sort of grounded in their spaces.
05:39Yeah.
05:39Yeah.
05:39I find it so interesting, all of this.
05:41So how do these trends vary regionally?
05:45Like, you know, it's hot in Florida versus a major urban market like New York or LA.
05:51Yes.
05:51So our survey was, was a national survey.
05:55The core themes still stay the same.
05:57People are looking for functionality.
05:59They're looking for flow.
06:00They're looking for light.
06:01Those are universal, but in each market, there's also nuances that go with that.
06:06And so in Florida, you are looking for what we saw in the report, everybody was looking for more of an indoor outdoor connection.
06:12But what that means in Florida may be different than in LA or New York and more urban markets.
06:18People are obviously looking at space differently because they don't have as much space.
06:22So how they use that space becomes very different.
06:26And so that I would say that multi-use rooms, things that storage, all of those things are more relevant in specific areas than others.
06:35So let's talk about some strategies for agents to use this report to help them in their business.
06:42You know, what are, what are some of the things that you recommend they, they use it and how they use it to, you know, solve for some of the problems that you mentioned earlier about what's going on in the market?
06:53Well, first of all, we actually put together an agent companion guide for this report.
06:57The report is, is so extensive.
06:59We wanted to be able to help deliver to our agents clear insights from it that they can then leverage in their staging, leveraging in their market.
07:07But if you don't have access to that, to that, I would just say, thinking about overall, how does design impact the buyer behavior?
07:15How can they leverage the trends that are, that we're seeing to be able to highlight different features in their marketing to ensure that they're educating buyers about what the future value might be as well, based on, on the long-term trends that impact homes.
07:30And ultimately, for an agent, having an understanding of what consumers are expecting is going to help them be able to deliver a better and more customized experience to their buyers and sellers.
07:43Okay, great.
07:44And so, you know, obviously, design trends are continually evolving, but so is buyer psychology.
07:50So what consumer preferences are you seeing that are reshaping how people think of home?
07:55And let's be specific about it, like, so that agents can understand what they need to be looking for, because those might be marketing points for them.
08:05For sure.
08:05So for agents who are, we know that trends continue to change.
08:09And we talked a little bit earlier about the, even the color changes, what's old is new and what's, you know, what's new is old in some cases.
08:17So color trends will continue to shift.
08:19They evolve pretty quickly.
08:20And some of those micro trends of things that you might see on Instagram, like the coffee bar is hot right now, will evolve.
08:27The things that have staying power that agents can be focused on are things like the layout, how people can actually live in their home, the flow.
08:36What is the indoor-outdoor spaces look like?
08:39The other components that are, I would say, trends that are impacted by the things they're seeing on social media, the hot colors for the year, are things that they can be including and incorporating in their marketing, but they don't necessarily impact the long-term value of that home.
08:55And so that's an important consideration as they're thinking about how to use them, whether it's in their staging or adding those into their listing descriptions.
09:03And as a buyer's agent, it's also helpful to be able to point those things out to the clients that you're serving as well.
09:12Yeah, I mean, it's a great guide to use even just for staging a house, you know, because you can kind of incorporate some of those design trends into the staging to make it more attractive for buyers too.
09:24Yeah, even something like a reading nook, you don't have to have a built-in nook to create a space that you can visualize.
09:32It could be a corner chair that's set up with, you know, a lamp and a small table and has the books there.
09:39There's different ways that you can do it without having to have a hard footprint that's still mimicked to some of the trends that people are looking for.
09:45Yeah. Before we move on to some other questions, are there any specific trends that surprised you or that you want to go into a little more detail about?
09:56I would say the trend that probably maybe most surprised me is just relating to some of the color shifts.
10:03And it was actually really interesting to me when I looked at them because I looked around at my own home and realized I already had incorporated a lot of the colors that we're seeing.
10:12So this calm coastal blue is the top highlighted trend, which is a little bit different.
10:19Actually, you may have seen that Pantone recently came out with their color of the year and that's this sort of white and it created a lot of hollow blue in the market.
10:28But what we're seeing for what people actually want to do is very different than maybe a Pantone color that's predicting what people might wear in their clothing or how they might actually live in their home.
10:38So I would say that that's maybe the big trend, but that that's nothing super surprising for what we're seeing other than maybe the impact of social media and how that really changes what buyer behavior is actually going to be.
10:52Yeah. I mean, my sister-in-law is an interior designer and she's the one who told me gray is out, which is good because my whole house is somewhat traditional.
11:00But, you know, you try to put a modern edge on it, right?
11:04Right.
11:04What gray does not go in my house at all.
11:07We're seeing that kind of marriage of both the gray and the brown through colors like a grayish.
11:13So you still have some component of it without it being completely stark.
11:18And I think that that's kind of typical of trends is you see this like slight evolution of the of the colors in order to be able to go to kind of the next decade of what we're looking for.
11:28Yeah, I feel like it's very similar to fashion, too, because, you know, a lot of what's going on in the country just in general drives fashion trends and drives interior design trends and just design trends in general, too.
11:43Like COVID did, you know, people were looking for homes that had office space or some space they could use to work remotely.
11:51You know, what what trends do you see that really reflect what's going on in the country in general?
12:00Did you see through the report?
12:03It's interesting that you mentioned fashion and home because it is very true.
12:07I was just shopping for a new pair of jeans and one of the ones came up with like a 90s style jean.
12:13And yeah, that's very much what we see in these home trends as well is this mimicking of of fashion and home and how those kind of come together.
12:24And we've talked a little bit about floor plan and functionality has definitely been evolving.
12:30What became very popular in the past around these wide open spaces, people realize that from a livability perspective and particularly now is more people are at home, more people are are using their homes in different ways.
12:43That has certainly influenced the trends.
12:46We're seeing that that even from an entertaining perspective, entertaining is back and it in for a while it wasn't there.
12:54So people want to live in their home differently.
12:56The indoor outdoor space is really big.
12:58People want an outdoor room.
13:00And that reflects in thinking about staging, for example.
13:04And it's not just the backyard.
13:06It's also thinking about the front porch or even the front yard.
13:09Those kind of trends are back and they are really add significant value for the home seller if they're able to showcase them to buyers.
13:18Yeah, I love the whole idea of design trends and and, you know, as they relate to fashion trends, too, because, of course, I'm into that.
13:27So let's get into the recent acquisition.
13:30So exciting news.
13:33You know, Compass and Anywhere settle or they merged officially.
13:37And I wanted to talk, like, what do you see as you know, I know the integration hasn't completely started, but how is that shaping your strategic priorities for this year?
13:48Well, first of all, I'll say that we really see this as a milestone moment and we're so excited for the future.
13:54We are definitely in the early phases of the integration.
13:56We we just closed a few days ago and there's a lot ahead that we need to do.
14:02But the great thing is there's nothing significant that agents and brokers need to do differently today.
14:07And our priorities for this year really remain pretty constant.
14:11We're focused on all of the things that we can do that drive agent success.
14:14So we're continuing to build on consumer trust.
14:17We're thinking about how do we help support agents and make sure that they can differentiate and have the skills to be able to serve today's homebuyers.
14:24Homebuyers and and that, you know, so that sort of remains.
14:29We anticipate that there's going to be this added strength behind us and we're really excited for that.
14:34But today's focus is all about making sure that our agents and brokers are successful.
14:38Yeah, absolutely.
14:39And I want like from your vantage point, what do you see as the biggest opportunities that Compass will offer to an already great, you know, company?
14:47The biggest opportunities that we think Compass will offer are obviously scale resources.
14:55We think that there's a lot of opportunity to strengthen our network and help agents grow.
15:00You know, if you think about it, this is a very unique and incredible value proposition to the agents and brokers that are affiliated with our network.
15:07We have the power of this largest real estate company in the world, which, you know, scale really matters when you think about services that you can deliver.
15:14And then you combine that with this connection that we have with the largest print and digital publisher in the world with People Inc., which is the parent company of Better Homes and Gardens.
15:25We have our brand trust.
15:26We're in over 40 million homes sitting on coffee tables.
15:29We're in the kitchen recipe.
15:31And when you combine all of that together, that becomes really powerful.
15:35And it's a unique advantage that that nobody else has that we're able to deliver.
15:40We also are really excited about the future with technology.
15:42Compass obviously is on the cutting edge of innovation and technology.
15:48And when that technology is available for our brokers and agents, we think that will be a huge, you know, opportunity for them to be able to combine that with some of the unique resources and insights that we already have with BHGRE.
15:59Yeah, I'm excited to see what's next for all of the companies involved in the Anywhere Compass merger.
16:07So exciting stuff.
16:08Let's talk more about kind of things that are going on in real estate in the industry right now.
16:14So if you could forecast one major shift that we haven't fully seen or people are maybe underestimating, whether it's tech, design, consumer behavior, business model, whatever it is, what would you put your money on, you know, happening in 2026?
16:31I would say that buyer expectations continue to evolve and we have to be able to adapt with that.
16:40And that comes from the standpoint of the technology, but it also comes from the standpoint of what they're actually looking for when they're looking for homes.
16:47And our inventory isn't necessarily adapting as fast to buyer preferences as is needed.
16:54And so agents that are able to actually think about what are what are buyers looking for and be able to not only market their homes, but stage them, prep them, do all of those things will have a big leg up and be able to help those buyers visualize what's happening in that space.
17:09And I think that's going to continue to drive things for a while.
17:12It's not the same as it used to be where agents can just focus on, you know, marketing a three bedroom, two bath.
17:18People are looking for something that's much different in in in kind of their process.
17:23We know that that today's buyer is also a little bit older and that is influencing consumer behavior and what they're actually looking for in their home because they're not necessarily moving as fast as they used to either.
17:36Yeah, hopefully we'll be we'll be lowering that first time home buyer age from 40 to maybe 30 in the next couple of years.
17:45So, yes, affordability obviously continues to be a, you know, a key challenge that we're I think we're going to face for a while, even as we, you know, we have obviously seen some of the trend of rates dropping.
17:55Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So what advice would you give agents today who want to lead their local market by leveraging both design savvy and the latest tech to, you know, lead the market?
18:07I would say that you need to combine technology as well as sort of storytelling as you think about how you're supporting and serving both buyers and sellers.
18:17So thinking about how do you use AI and data and the unique insights to understand pricing strategies, to understand your marketing strategies and what what features you should focus on.
18:29And I would think about making sure that you're actually telling a story about your listing.
18:34We touched a little bit on this earlier, but it isn't about the three bedroom, two bath any longer.
18:38It's about the place in a home where people can come and they can visualize sitting there and reading a book or entertaining their family and being able to tell the story about how people can live in that home differently.
18:50And for a long time is really important for agents to think about as they work with the evolving consumer behavior that is continuing to evolve.
19:02Yeah, it's all about lifestyle, right? You want your home to reflect your lifestyle and your report can obviously help with some of those key marketing points when you're either staging a home or writing a listing description or, you know, marketing the home in general, too.
19:16So, yeah, people, people definitely are looking for livability when they think about how they the homes that they're looking for.
19:27And it's important that you can help them visualize what that looks like for today, tomorrow and for the long term as they're going into that property.
19:35Yeah. So my last question is just what do you think is the single biggest brewing issue in real estate that agents and brokers should be paying attention to?
19:43I think we we've touched a little bit on affordability and an inventory and it's not it's not old.
19:51It's something that's that's still here and it's something that we're going to have to deal with for a long time and how to be able to continue to support their buyers and sellers.
19:58Given that, we also need to think think about how people are aging in their homes.
20:05You're seeing more multigenerational types of buyers coming in because you have families combining in order to be able to increase affordability.
20:14So the entire component of livability, functionality, room layout all becomes very important for the future.
20:22Yeah, absolutely. Any last any last thoughts?
20:25And I think it's important that design trends continue to change.
20:30We actually launched our our our trend maker program for our agents.
20:34And when we created the program, we realized it couldn't be something that we created to set it and forget it.
20:40We do a monthly call with our agents where we're continuing to bring new insights to them.
20:45And that that's important. What what we see today will continue to evolve throughout the year, throughout next year.
20:51And so staying on top of the trends and ensuring that you have the information about what people are looking at now becomes really important.
21:00Social media and technology is driving changing preferences much faster than ever before.
21:06And so stay current, stay focused on what people are looking for and you'll be able to really serve your clients well.
21:11Yeah, it's really hard to keep up with home changes, you know, design changes that are happening so quickly because, you know, a home isn't something you redecorate every couple of months, you know.
21:22Yes, definitely.
21:24It's also important to remember that what you as an agent like may not necessarily be true for the broader population.
21:32And so you have to take some of your own design biases out of your process and ensure you're really thinking about a broader set of, you know, homebuyers.
21:42Yeah, absolutely. Well, Ginger, thanks so much for sharing on the Real Trending podcast today.
21:48It's always a pleasure to have you on.
21:50Thank you so much, Tracy. It was great to be here.
21:52Thanks.
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