Where I see the dominance of grey most clearly is modern buildings, from single residential right through to large commercial. In those cases the owners want to

Where I see the dominance of grey most clearly is modern buildings, from single residential right through to large commercial. In those cases the owners want to appeal to as many buyers as possible but don't have a large number to offer (usually just a single building). Unfortunately grey makes some sense in that case. I think it really started to become ubiquitous as housing came to be seen more as an investment (why paint something in a colour you like if it means it will be harder to get a good price on the market?)