The Psychology of Color in the Home…and Beyond

 
 

There are countless factors that go into any consumer purchase.

Factors like price, quality, and convenience are obvious, but others are less so. One factor that goes far under the radar is color, plain and simple. When it comes to marketing, modern shoppers actually consider color more than any other factor. That’s why the psychology of color in marketing is so powerful.

It’s not too surprising to hear, companies are constantly shifting color schemes and making minute changes. Others are represented by the color of their logo just as much as the symbol itself. Target, Walmart, Ikea, Home Depot, these are all businesses with highly recognizable color schemes. This works to all of their benefits, but in unique ways.

Color, interestingly, takes on different meanings depending on the context it is seen in. Red, for example, in marketing at large draws in attention and leads to sales conversions. Although in the home, red is associated with pain or blood, it’s not valued very highly. In contrast, blue has a lot more consistency. Light blue is one of the most common home colors and in marketing is a calming, trust-producing, neutral color.

Ultimately color can make or break a product, be that a home or a hair gel. When it comes to the home, colors can be sorted into high and low performance colors. Red, as previously mentioned, is typically disliked and is a low performance color. Blue, on the other hand, is highly desired and is a high performance color.

Outside of red and blue, a few other key colors are prominent examples of high and low performance colors. Taupe or gray is a high performance color, selling faster than any other colored home alongside white and other neutrals. Black is a similarly high performance color, but more specifically as a luxury variation. 

Brown, although a somewhat neutral color, actually undersells the value of any home. Homes with brown-colored walls selling for $2,310 less than expected on average. Cream yellow, a fairly common coloration, is also a low performance color. In reality only being liked by 5% of people. 

This is the interesting position color holds in the home. A position affirmed by research into how color changes one perception. White, a high performance color, reflects more sunlight and makes rooms look bigger. Helping to make any home feel more roomy. Blue, another high performance color, helps people to feel happy when waking up in the morning.

Red, instead of calming or helping, increases one's pulse and blood pressure. It is a stressful color, something that can be good for common purchases, but bad for the home. There’s much to be discussed about each color and the specific sensations it may raise. In psychology countless studies have been done to prove that color may affect memory, attention and countless other factors.

Ultimately this all goes to show, color matters. It matters when considering which store to go to, which product to buy, and importantly which home to live in. It’s often underlooked, but is the most considered factor in marketing. A coat of paint makes a world of a difference, no matter the industry it is operating in. 

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Oklahoma Real Estate Statistics from November 2022

 
 

Housing affordability continues to be a major roadblock for market participants, with mortgage rates more than double compared to this time last year.

Buyers are delaying home purchases in hopes rates will drop, while many sellers are holding off on listing their homes due to weakening buyer demand, unwilling to trade in their lower rates for significantly higher borrowing costs on their next property. As a result, existing-home and pending home sales have continued to slow as we move into winter.

New listings decreased 10.4 percent for Single Family homes but increased 8.9 percent for Townhouse-Condo homes. Pending Sales decreased 28.0 percent for Single Family homes and 23.7 percent for Townhouse-Condo homes. Inventory increased 69.3 percent for Single Family homes and 72.6 percent for Townhouse-Condo homes.

Month’s Supply of Inventory increased 76.9 percent for Single Family homes and 92.3 percent for Townhouse-Condo homes.

Median Sales Price increased 7.0 percent to $244,000 for Single Family homes and 7.6 percent to $155,000 for Townhouse-Condo homes.

Days on Market increased 47.6 percent for Single Family homes but decreased 14.8 percent for Townhouse-Condo homes.

With home sales down, nationwide housing inventory was at 3.3 months’ supply heading into November, up from 2.4 months from this time last year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Although buyers have more options to choose from, home prices remain high, and soaring borrowing costs have caused monthly payments to increase significantly, with the average homebuyer paying 77% more on their loan per month compared to the same period a year ago, according to Realtor.com.

 
 
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If you are wondering how current national and global situations might be impacting your property’s value, your neighborhood, or the Real Estate market in general, we are happy to provide more specific information.

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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Clutter Free Gift Ideas for the Holidays

 
 

It’s so easy to get overwhelmed and fill your holiday shopping list with items that will sit on the shelf or get tossed, right?

Here are some clutter free gift ideas for you think about for your loved ones this holiday season!

  • Local experiences - Create a memory by giving tickets to a concert, sporting event or a certificate for a local restaurant

  • Learn something new - Build skills with a class that can be a fun time together - cooking,painting, pottery, or scuba diving!

  • Lend a hand at home - Help pick up a tedious home task by giving a cleaning service, home organizer or laundry service

  • Annual membership - A gift of access to the local Botanical Garden, zoo, or state parks will keep giving year round!

  • Fill their stomach - Sweet treats are always a hit, homemade or store bought! Pair with your favorite winter beverage

If you need a recommendation for a great local experience or vendor, please reach out!

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This Weekend: Oklahoma City Metro Area Open Houses for December 9th-11th

 
 

Our agents are hosting Open Houses this weekend all over the OKC Metro. You can find all of these listings on our website. Please reach out to the listing agent for information on times and more information on the listing!

 
 

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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Lower mortgage rates stabilize the housing market

 
 

After a waterfall dive, purchase applications data finds its footing for now

Since the weaker CPI data was released in November, bond yields and mortgage rates have been heading lower. The question then was: What would lower mortgage rates do to this data? Now, with five weeks of data in front of us, we can say they have stabilized the market.

Purchase application data came out on Wednesday and the week-to-week data was down 3%, breaking the streak of four straight weeks of growth. The year-over-year data declined 40%, the smallest year-over-year decline since Oct. 19.

For months I have been saying we were going to have challenging comps from October to January because last year at this time mortgage volume was rising — a rare event this late in the year.

Because of that, we should all expect declines of 35%-45% year over year during this period. If things were getting weaker, 53%-57% negative year-over-year declines would be in play. However, mortgage rates have fallen more than 1% since the recent highs, so it’s time to look at the data to explain how to interpret it.

The bleeding has stopped

First and foremost, the bleeding has stopped in this data line, but the context is critical here. We had a waterfall dive in this data line and adjusting to the population, we hit an all-time low, so let’s put the bounce from the lows in context. This isn’t like the COVID-19 recovery where the data was getting noticeably better on a year-over-year metric; the purchase application data just stopped going down.

For now, just think of it as stabilization and we need to see more of this to make a valid premise that the worst is behind us.

 
 

As you can see from the chart above, the last several years have not had the FOMO (fear of missing out) housing credit boom we saw from 2002-2005. Accordingly, we also haven’t had a credit bust in the data line.

What I mean by a credit bust is that after the housing bubble burst in 2005 into 2006, we saw a massive increase in supply. These were forced credit sellers, which means these sellers don’t sell to buy a home like a traditional seller does. Since they were distressed forced sellers, inventory skyrocketed in 2006 and stayed very elevated in 2007 and 2008.

As we can see below, none of that is happening today because the seller isn’t stressed.

Total inventory levels

NAR: Total Inventory levels 1.22 million
Historically inventory levels range between 2 million and 2.5 million, the equilibrium balance between a buyer and seller marketplace that has been here for four decades. Only from 2006-2011 did we see this break due to forced sellers who couldn’t buy homes.

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If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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