Why white might be the new gray for home sellers

The Pantone color of the year for 2026 is Cloud Dancer, “a billowy white imbued with a feeling of serenity,” according to the design company, which declares an annual hue based on the cultural mood of the times.

It “serves as a symbol of calming influence in a society rediscovering the value of quiet reflection,” per Pantone. But critics and online commenters argue white is not really a color at all, let alone the marquee shade of 2026.

However described, Cloud Dancer tracks with what could be the new interior design trend that might be the difference between a house selling or not. For several years, shades of gray have seemed to be the go-to. Sellers have drenched their home’s walls, flooring and cabinets in Millennial Gray, the minimalist monochrome that attracted buyers.

Though bland and a palette Gen Z mocks as depressing and devoid of personality, many real estate experts said the neutral tone helped sell houses by giving them a modern-feeling clean slate.

There are several all-white houses currently on the market in the Twin Cities. A trio of housing authorities considers whether Gen Z White is the new Millennial Gray that will help or hurt home sales.

Jeffrey Dewing of Coldwell Banker Realty is definitely seeing the trend. The top sales agent by volume last year in Minnesota, he said the appeal of gray is already fading.

“I am definitely seeing more all-white interiors when looking at new construction homes,” he said, noting color selection is very important even when working with neutral tones.

He isn’t, however, convinced gray is gone for good.

“I do think gray still resonates with buyers because it represents a cleaner aesthetic. We’re just seeing lighter grays than we used to,” Dewing said.

Scott Hutchinson of Re/Max Advantage Plus agrees. He said the trend is prevalent in new homes, especially more contemporary homes and those that reflect the farmhouse trend, which often includes black-trimmed windows and vertical board-and-batten siding. He has several listings in a new community called the Yellowstone of Credit River that reflect the trend.

“A lot of those are white on white,” he said.

Home stager Laurie Fleming has long ago moved away from gray. She said in the design world, especially those who are focused on analyzing homebuying trends, gray left the building.

Fleming has worked on some of the most difficult and expensive listings in the Twin Cities. Though she and other designers have already moved on, she knows change happens slowly for nonprofessionals.

“Once you drop a trend, like gray walls, get ready for the buying crowd to get the ‘ick’ when they see it, especially if your gray paint is in the cool-tone family, a gray that can give off a blue or purple undertone,” she said. “I’m really watching how homebuyers react to the trends so I can decide how and when to pull the trigger on new purchases for our staging designs. When you’re trying to sell your house for top dollar, there’s no safer place to be than to do what everyone else is doing. And white houses are everywhere.”

She’s betting warm neutrals, including white or slightly off-white walls with lots of texture and not a lot of color, will gain ground in 2026.

“After years of crisp, cool grays, we either want warmth and comfort or we want color, and it all starts with one of the many shades of white paint,” she said. “We need our homes to soothe us and comfort us.”

Not everyone is a fan of Pantone’s radical choice.

Cloud Dancer, she said, is drawing groans because of the broader cultural context behind the choice. For example, Pantone’s 2002 color of the year was True Red, a color associated with love, power and courage. “That was reflective of the mood of the nation following 9/11,” she said.

“If our country needed a bold, powerful color then, what is it we’re looking for now? I think we need a big statement, as do a lot of my peers,” Kenna Fleming said. “What we don’t need is more neutrality, and that’s exactly what Pantone gave us.”

Dewing has a nearly all-white house on Merilane Avenue in Edina’s Rolling Green neighborhood on the market for $3.75 million. It underwent a total remodel, including a new addition, completed in January. It has more than 6,000 square feet, including seven bathrooms, six bedrooms, a white slipper tub and is on a half-acre lot on a cul-de-sac. The walls, counters, woodwork and even the cabinetry is white.

Dewing is at 612-597-0424, JDewing@CBRealty.com. To see more photos, go to the listing.

A 4,300-square-foot farmhouse-style rambler in the Yellowstone at Credit River community in Prior Lake has five bedrooms and five bathrooms.

And this 4,640-square-foot contemporary-style white house, also in Prior Lake, listed at $1.599 million.