Business
Nearly 70% of prospective buyers would buy a haunted house if it checked all their boxes
Zillow survey finds 35% of prospective buyers would buy a haunted house if it cost less Four in 10 prospective buyers could be convinced to buy a haunted
About this update from Zillow Group, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Zillow survey finds 35% of prospective buyers would buy a haunted house if it cost less\nFour in 10 prospective buyers could be convinced to buy a haunted house if it had the right features.Nearly 30% of prospective buyers say they would be more likely to purchase a home if it were haunted.Among successful buyers, 12% are convinced their home is definitely haunted.SEATTLE, Oct. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This spooky season, a new survey from Zillow® finds that a scary number of prospective home buyers would be willing to put up with a few ghosts in the attic if those spirits happened to haunt the right home.\n\nMore than two-thirds of prospective buyers (67%) say they could be convinced to buy a haunted house if it had appealing features, were in the right location, were more affordable or for another reason. These findings highlight the extreme compromises buyers are willing to make in order to land a home in today's housing market. \nZillow's survey of prospective buyers finds that 40% say they could be convinced to buy a haunted house if it had features such as a big backyard, a pool or a two-car garage. Nearly one-third of prospective buyers (32%) say the same if the home were in their desired location. Finding a home that checks all the boxes has become challenging with frighteningly few new listings hitting the market. Zillow's latest monthly market report finds that inventory is starting to creep back up, but it remains more than 10% lower than this time last year, and more than 40% lower than 2019 levels. \nMore than one-third of prospective buyers (35%) say they could be convinced to buy a haunted house if it were priced lower than the rest of the market. Home values remain near record highs after the pandemic-era run-up in prices. Meanwhile, mortgage rates surpassed a 22-year high this month, slashing buying power and spooking many would-be home shoppers. A new Zillow analysis finds buyers now need a six-figure income to comfortably afford the typical U.S. home, assuming a 10% down payment. \n\"The combination of high prices, limited inventory and rising interest rates is creating a witches' brew of trouble for would-be homeowners,\" said Manny Garcia, a senior population scientist at Zillow. \"Despite these chilling conditions, life events like job changes, coupling up and having children still drive households to buy. ...