Why Women Drive Home Buying Decisions and How Home Staging Can Help You Sell Faster

When it comes to purchasing a home, it's often women who take the lead. Recent UK research shows that women are the primary decision makers in around 80% of home purchases.

Yeah, you read that right.

80%.

I’m sure you knew the figure would be high. But 80% high?

This insight is crucial for property investors and developers aiming to make their listings stand out AND and sell faster.

Understanding the Female Buyer

Women tend to focus on the emotional and practical aspects of a home, and we can break this down into three key areas:

1. Emotional Connection

Women often envision how the space will support their lifestyle and family needs. If you’ve read any of our other blogs or social posts, you’ll know how often I bang on about this. And so do other home staging companies.

Why? Because it’s the most powerful reason for staging your property for sale. And therefore, it’s our biggest reason for promoting staging services.

Creating an emotional connection with a potential buyer is what takes a viewing from “this could work” to “this is the one!”

This isn’t made-up mumbo jumbo, it’s a psychological fact, backed by behavioural science. Buyer behaviour studies consistently show that people (especially women, who as we now know usually lead the decision making) make big purchasing decisions based on how something feels, not just how it looks on paper.

Women are often the ones walking through the door, mentally placing the sofa, imagining Christmas dinner in the dining room, or picturing their kids doing homework at the kitchen table. They’re tuning into how the home could support their lifestyle.

That’s why a well staged home feels more than just styled. It’s intentional. It invites buyers to start emotionally unpacking before they’ve even made an offer.

2. Functionality

Practical features like storage, layout, and lighting are key considerations.

While design and style create the emotional spark, it’s functionality that often closes the sale, especially for women, who tend to pay closer attention to how a home will work for day-to-day life.

Things like smart storage solutions, well-planned kitchen layouts, practical bathrooms, and good natural light aren’t just ‘nice to haves’, they’re deal makers (or breakers).

Open plan might look great in photos, but… is there space to hide the toys, the laundry, or the three different bins we all seem to need these days?! Can you cook, chat, and keep an eye on the kids without tripping over a poor layout? Is the lighting flattering, or does it make everything feel a bit grey and lifeless?

Staging that highlights functionality; like a kitchen island doubling as a breakfast bar, sends a clear message: this home doesn’t just look good, it works for real life.

These are all factors most women will consciously and subconsciously be considering when viewing your property. There’s a lot going on! And when a home supports how someone wants to live, it becomes literally irresistible.

3. Aesthetics

A warm, inviting atmosphere makes a significant impact.

For most women, it’s not just about whether a space looks great. It’s whether it feels right visually.

You think that’s nonsense, don’t you? Hear me out!...

Aesthetics is about harmony. Does the colour palette feel calm or chaotic? Is there a sense of flow from room to room?

Do the finishes and styling feel cohesive and intentional, or like someone just threw together a few trends without a plan?

Women often have a strong intuitive sense of whether a space feels right or feels off. It might not be something they can even articulate on a viewing, but if a home is badly styled or visually jarring, that discomfort lingers and it affects decisions.

This too, is backed by behavioural science. Women are more likely to process and respond to emotional and environmental cues, especially in domestic spaces.

From an evolutionary psychology standpoint, this makes sense: women have historically been the ones managing household dynamics, so being attuned to how a space feels and functions has deep roots in wellbeing and safety.

Neurologically, women tend to have a more active insula; the part of the brain that processes empathy, emotions and internal states. Which means they’re often picking up on subtle cues from the lighting, layout and clutter, that men may overlook.

That’s why poor design or awkward styling can be a major turn off, even if everything on paper looks great. Because when it comes to making one of the biggest purchases of their lives, how it feels matters. A lot.

The Power of Home Staging

As we’ve explored, effective home staging can highlight the three core elements that resonate most with female buyers: emotional connection, functionality and aesthetics.

This isn’t a slight on the male purchaser.

Of course, some men are just as tuned into these things as women. But statistically, far more women than men lead the home buying decision. So, why wouldn’t you want to use home staging as your marketing tool, with that in mind?

By showcasing a property’s true potential, staging helps buyers visualise living there. That emotional response often speeds up decision making, gets buyers more excited AND can lead to stronger offers.

Strategic Tips for Home Staging That Sells

• Neutral Palettes: Use soft, warm, neutral wall colours to appeal to your target market. Staging is about appealing to the most people within your ideal buyer group so you design with that in mind and take the time to figure it out before you commit to a look.

• Functional Layouts: Show off the usability of each space. Give every room a clear, purposeful layout.

• Thoughtful Details: Incorporate luxurious elements such as flowers or layered, cozy textiles to add warmth and sumptuousness.

By focusing on what really matters, to the main decision maker/s, you create a space that doesn’t just impress, it connects.

As we know from the rise of loneliness in society. Connection is what humans crave the most. And when you create that connection, the sale becomes a whole lot easier.