The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of previously owned homes in the United States fell 5.9% in March compared with February, reaching an annualized rate of 4.02 million units. That was the slowest rate for sales in March since 2009 and points to a sluggish beginning to what normally is the most active time in the residential housing market.
Since the spring market was slow, sellers and agents are searching for new means of capturing buyers’ attention. One of them: the appeal of fine art.
Photo: Markus Klinko
Photo: Markus KlinkoStrategic staging at home with selected artwork is gaining popularity for rapidly building perceived value and selling properties. 81% of buyers’ agents said that staging a home made it easier for buyers to visualize the property as their future home, according to NAR’s 2023 Profile of Home Staging. Staged homes sold for 5% to 10% higher than comparable unstaged homes, on average.
Capitalizing on this trend, Nest Seekers International launched Nest Collections, a new affiliate art brokerage formed in partnership with founder Josh Kasper of Studio Kasa. The company is structured to blend fine art planning with luxury real estate sales and marketing.
Kasper, a one-time Goldman Sachs executive on Wall Street, brings financial rigor and curatorial expertise to the role. According to Nest Seekers, having grown multi-billion-dollar companies at Fidelity Investments, S&P Global, and Goldman Sachs, Kasper has also brought clients five times the return on investment in art.
Nest Collections reflects a bigger real estate marketing trend: not just selling square footage, but building an emotional and visual experience for high-net-worth consumers. Agents are working increasingly with artists and advisors to design homes that will highlight architecture, create ambiance, and reaffirm a property’s narrative.
Photo: Markus Klinko
Photo: Markus KlinkoOver the past two decades, Nest Seekers International has built a global footprint with over 2,000 agents across 30 offices in cities including New York, London, Los Angeles, Miami, and the Hamptons. The firm has represented and completed transactions exceeding $100 billion across real estate and other hard assets, including yachts. Established by Eddie Shapiro, the brokerage is also a production and media company with programming on platforms such as Netflix, HBO, and the BBC.
As the market continues to become more constrained, sellers are doing whatever it takes to get their listings noticed. To more and more agents and owners, though, art is no longer an afterthought—it’s a starting point.
To learn more, visit nest-collections.com. Pieces in the story can be viewed by visiting markusklinkostudio.com.
