Eco-Friendly, Tech-Smart Homes Lead 2025 Trends
Realtor.com says sustainability and smart-home tech define 2025, with WaterSense fixtures, EV chargers and indoor-outdoor design among the fastest-rising features.
AUSTIN, Texas — In a year defined by AI innovation and shifting energy priorities, U.S. homeowners are responding in their own way – by rethinking how their homes use power, water, and natural light. Realtor.com's new 2025 Home Trends Report found that efficiency, sustainability and nature-inspired design are on the rise, while more opulent or space-heavy features are losing ground – highlighting a clear shift in how Americans define comfort and value.
According to the analysis, WaterSense Fixtures – which reduce water use by at least 20% – topped the list with a 289.6% year-over-year increase in mentions within listing descriptions. Homes featuring this certification carried a median listing price of about $628,000, underscoring their appeal in mid- to upper-tier markets. Net-Zero Ready homes (+198%) and EV Charging features (+175%) also surged, reflecting rising consumer interest in lowering utility costs and preparing for an all-electric future.
"We're seeing homeowners prioritize features that make their properties more efficient, resilient, and self-sustaining," said Anthony Smith, senior economist at Realtor.com®. "Buyers increasingly view eco-friendly upgrades as both a lifestyle choice and a smart financial investment – especially as energy costs and climate concerns become part of everyday decision-making."
Bringing nature indoors
The second-fastest-growing feature in 2025 was biophilic/indoor-outdoor design, up 163% year-over-year. These listings showcase expansive glass doors, interior courtyards, and living walls – architectural elements that dissolve boundaries between indoors and outdoors. The trend reflects a growing desire to bring natural light, plants, and organic materials into daily living spaces. The median list price for homes with these features was $859,000 underscoring their appeal to higher end and luxury buyers.
Another top 10 trend, outdoor low-voltage lighting, which rose 91%, supports the theme of mindful design – integrating sustainability and aesthetics while extending living spaces beyond the home's walls.
Smarter, more connected homes
Technology also remains a key part of home evolution. Features like built-in coffee systems, smart lighting scenes, and hardwired ethernet/cat6 ranked among the top 15 fastest-growing trends, highlighting the lasting influence of hybrid work and digital lifestyles. Reliable connectivity and automation are now as much selling points as square footage.
"A decade ago, buyers might have asked about open floor plans or granite counters," Smith added. "Today, they're looking for EV chargers, high-speed wiring, and homes that can adapt. The definition of what makes a home modern has completely evolved."
The fastest growing trends
(The table below highlights the 30 fastest-rising home features of the past year, ranked by how much more often they appeared in listing descriptions compared with 2024.)
Familiar favorites
While the fastest-growing features highlight new priorities, some classics remain in demand. Home office/Zoom rooms jumped 56.5%, and fully fenced yards and finished walkout basements continue to be among the most widely mentioned, reinforcing how remote work and multifunctional living continue to shape buyer preferences.
Fading fashions
By contrast, formal dining rooms with built-ins (-25.3%), infinity-edge pools (-24.7%) and three-car garages (-19.1%) all saw notable declines, as buyers favor modern, natural and right-sized design choices over ornate or oversized spaces. The data suggests that overtly opulent features are giving way to simplicity and function.
The most common features
(The table below highlights the 10 most common home features of the past year, ranked by current prevalence in listing mentions.)
Features with the largest year over year decline
(The table below highlights the 10 home features which saw the biggest year over year decline)
A data-driven look at the market
Realtor.com's analysis is grounded in real-time housing data – tracking the language used in millions of active for-sale listings throughout 2025. Each feature's growth rate reflects how often it was highlighted by sellers year over year, offering an objective view into which design and lifestyle trends are being promoted in the market.
Features were also categorized by prevalence – from widespread to rare – to provide context on scale and accessibility. Because rare features start from a smaller base, their rapid growth rates can signal emerging trends that may become mainstream in future years.
Methodology
This analysis draws on active for-sale listings on Realtor.com® from 2024 and 2025 (comparing January - September 2024 to January - September 2025). It measures how frequently specific home features appeared in property descriptions to identify emerging and declining trends. Each feature's year-over-year percentage change reflects the shift in how often that feature was mentioned in listings, offering insight into which amenities real estate professionals are emphasizing more or less over time. The analysis began with an initial list of 290 feature terms, covering design elements, amenities, materials, and systems commonly referenced in listings.
Median listing prices represent the median list price of homes that included each feature in their description, providing context for the typical price tier where these trends appear. Prevalence classifications, Widespread, Common, Occasional, and Rare, are based on the relative frequency of features across all active listings. Features were ranked by their share of mentions and segmented into tiers to indicate how broadly each appears in the marketplace, from those found in a large proportion of homes to those appearing only in a small subset of listings.
Source: Realtor.com
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