So this question is really asked from a New England perspective and presumes that you have some kind of wood siding since the predominant exterior in these parts is wood.  And so assuming this, what color is your favorite for your home’s exterior – white, beige, grey, green, yellow, blue, red, brown or another hue?  Or do you like a mix of two colors?  Or a stone with a colored clapboard?  The possibilities are endless….

I did some online surfing and found a great article about picking paint colors for your house.  Interestingly, it says that “white is the favored color for traditional classical architecture,” which is mostly the kind of architecture we have here, especially in Wellesley.  It also says that dark colors (think brown) “will make your house seem smaller, but will draw more attention to details.”  This makes sense because I have often heard that a dark brown home is the hardest to sell.

I wanted to do some of my own empirical research, and so I looked at the exterior colors* of all of the active properties on the market in Weston and Wellesley to do so.  Here’s what I found:

- Of the 51 homes** on the market in Weston, MA:

• 15 or 29% are beige/tan (or a related hue like cream or taupe)
• 14 or 27% are white
• 6 or 12% are brown
• 5 or 10% are brick
• 4 or 8% are yellow
• 4 or 8% are shingle
• 2 or 4% are grey
• 1 or 2% are stone

- Of the 89 homes** on the market in Wellesley, MA:

• 26 or 29% are beige/tan
• 19 or 21% are grey
• 15 or 17% are white
• 9 or 10% are yellow
• 7 or 8% are brick
• 4 or 4.5% are blue
• 2 or 2.25% are brown
• 2 or 2.25% are green
• 2 or 2.25% are red
• 2 or 2.25% are to be built/to be determined
• 1 or 1% is pink

Interestingly, beige/tan is the winner in both Weston and Wellesley though grey is much more popular in Wellesley than in Weston – at least according to what is currently on the market in these two towns as detailed above.  And Wellesley has a much broader array of home colors than Weston does.  This is due in large part because Wellesley consistently has a much higher inventory than Weston.

So what color is your favorite for the exterior of your home?  And if you knew that a certain color was more appealing to a higher percentage of buyers would you paint your home’s exterior before putting it on the market?  I can’t wait to hear….

* Note that some homes feature two colors or a material other than wood combined with painted wood siding.  In those instances, I used the predominant color or the predominant material.  So if a home was brick and had an addition with grey wood siding, I classified the home as brick and not as grey.

** As of January 9, 2012.  These total inventory numbers are low due to the time of the year, and they do not include any “pending” properties or those with accepted offers.