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Zillow’s annual home trends report identifies seven groups of features appearing more often in for-sale listing descriptions, including catios, flex spaces, hobby rooms and home safety systems. The figures compare listing mentions year over year; they do not establish that buyers will purchase homes with those features or that the features increase resale value.
Zillow’s 2027 home trends report identifies seven categories of features appearing more often in for-sale listings, from catios and hobby rooms to home offices, accessibility features and backup power. The report measures changes in listing language, offering a snapshot of what sellers are highlighting—not proof that buyers will choose those homes or pay more for the features.
The findings span both high-tech and deliberately unplugged spaces. Zillow says listing mentions of artificial intelligence rose 119% year over year, while app-controlled home systems rose 34%. Mentions of libraries and music rooms, described as analog spaces, increased 34%. The report also found that “elevated” interiors appeared 71% more often, while color-drenched rooms rose 84%. By contrast, mentions of “cozy” fell 22%, “eclectic” fell 19% and “boho” fell 13%.
Another group of changes concerns home systems that may be less visible in listing photos. Zillow reports mentions of whole-home batteries rose 43%, battery backup 25%, and fresh-air ventilation systems 52%. Air filtration mentions rose 25%, water filtration 22% and radon mitigation 18%. The report says mentions of “sustainable” and “green” each fell 26%, even as specific features linked to energy reliability, indoor air and water quality appeared more often.
For room use and household needs, the report records a 42% increase in home-office mentions, 37% in media rooms and 35% in flex spaces. Multigenerational living rose 58%; grab bars increased 18%, wider doorways 13% and nurseries 9%. Zillow also reports rising mentions of golf simulators (29%), home gyms (18%), spa-inspired bathrooms (60%) and cold plunge pools (44%). Catios—screened outdoor areas for cats—appeared in 32% more listings. Meanwhile, dog-grooming stations fell 16%, while dog parks were flat.
Listing Language Signals Shifting Priorities
The report gives sellers, agents and people planning renovations a view of the features that are receiving more attention in marketing. Its range is notable: the increases cover practical systems and accessibility as well as lifestyle spaces, rather than pointing to one single design direction. Buyers searching across a range of household needs may encounter listings emphasizing home offices, flexible rooms, multigenerational layouts or wellness amenities.
But listing frequency is not the same as buyer demand, completed sales or financial return. The source material does not show whether a feature helped a home sell faster, attracted more offers or commanded a higher price. For homeowners weighing renovation costs, the figures can be a prompt to research local preferences, not a guarantee that a project will increase resale value.
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What Zillow’s Percentages Measure
The report, as described by Veranda, tracks whether terms appear more or less often in Zillow for-sale listing descriptions compared with the previous year. The stated percentages are year-over-year changes in mentions, not the share of all homes that have a feature. For instance, a 32% rise in catio mentions does not mean that 32% of homes have catios.
The report groups seven themes: quiet technology and analog rooms; elevated interiors; safety and efficiency; flexible spaces; aging in place; wellness and hobby rooms; and catios. Some terms rose while related ones declined. Mentions of chef’s kitchens fell 21% and gourmet kitchens 15%, while open-concept layouts were described as holding steady. That contrast suggests a change in what sellers choose to emphasize, but the available material does not establish why each listing term shifted.
“Mentions of AI are up 119%, which is “the largest year-over-year jump in this year’s data.””
— Zillow, as quoted in Veranda’s account of the report
Demand and Resale Effects Remain Unknown
The figures do not establish whether buyers are actively seeking each feature, whether the homes mentioned actually contain it, or whether listings use the terms consistently. The provided account does not include the underlying listing counts, the full methodology or regional breakdowns. It is also unclear how much the results vary by home price, location or property type.
There is no reported sales-price analysis showing that a catio, battery system, hobby room or other feature raises a home’s value. Zillow’s figures should be read as year-over-year changes in listing mentions, not as forecasts of buyer behavior or investment returns.
How Sellers Can Use the Findings
People considering a sale or renovation can compare the report’s themes with local listings and buyer needs before deciding what to change. A feature that appears more often across listings nationally may not be relevant in a particular market, and the report does not provide a renovation-cost or resale-return calculation.
Further detail on the report’s methodology, underlying counts and geographic patterns would help readers assess how broadly the trends apply. Until then, the clearest takeaway is limited but useful: sellers are mentioning a wider mix of technology, flexible rooms, accessibility, wellness features and pet spaces in their listings.
Key Questions
What are the seven home trends Zillow identified?
The report groups rising listing themes into quiet tech and analog spaces, elevated interiors, safety and efficiency, flex spaces, aging in place, wellness and hobby rooms, and catios.
Does a 32% increase mean 32% of listings have catios?
No. The figure means catio mentions appeared in 32% more for-sale listings than in the prior year, according to the report. It does not state the share of all listings with catios.
Does the report prove these features increase home value?
No. It tracks how often terms appear in listing descriptions. The supplied report summary does not show that any feature increases sale prices or produces a particular return on renovation spending.
Which home features had the largest reported increases?
Among the figures provided, AI mentions rose 119% year over year and color-drenched spaces rose 84%. The report also cited increases in multigenerational living (58%), fresh-air ventilation systems (52%) and spa-inspired bathrooms (60%).
Source: veranda.com
