October 24 2018
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 23, 2018 -- Realtor.com®, the Home of Home Search, today released its annual Haunted Real Estate Report — and the 2018 findings are spookier than one might expect. The new report found that one in three people - especially millennials - were willing to take a chance on a haunted home if there was something to sweeten the deal, while 18 percent of people say that the haunted nature of the home wouldn't affect their purchase decision at all.
"In a competitive market, it's harder for prospective buyers to be extremely selective," said Danielle Hale, chief economist for realtor.com®. "If a house is commensurately priced, or has desirable features, the fact that it may be haunted seems to matter less. This report shows that, for those looking for a good deal, a lower price, better neighborhood, or larger kitchen can balance out a few spooky happenings."
The survey of 1,067 people across the United States was conducted earlier this month by Harris Interactive through online interviews.
When asked to decide between purchasing a haunted or non-haunted home, respondents fell into the following three categories:
Living in a haunted home is more common than one would imagine, and not necessarily a surprise to the occupants. Nearly two in five people believe they have lived in a haunted (or possibly haunted) house, and 44 percent of them either suspected or were fully aware of said haunting before moving in. In fact, the majority of people under 55 years old suspected — or were sure — their home was haunted before they moved in, a decision possibly incentivized by a lower home price or better neighborhood. Hearing strange noises (54 percent) topped the list of most common spooky behaviors, followed by odd feelings in certain rooms (45 percent) and erratic pet behavior (34 percent).
When posed with the hypothetical question of selling a haunted house, people were polarized on revealing its spooky status to potential buyers.
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