With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, a new survey from Zillow finds 80 percent of Americans say they love their home. However, finding a home is a lot more challenging in today’s hypercompetitive and rapidly appreciating housing market.
About one-third of recent movers (34%) say it’s harder to find a house to buy than a spouse to wed, yet most say shopping for a home is more enjoyable.
Women are more likely than men to say shopping for a home is more enjoyable than dating: 62 percent compared to 39 percent of men.
Some psychologists believe looking at for-sale listings can create a mood-boosting chemical reaction in the brain similar to the excitement of a romantic relationship.
“The way we shop for homes is in many ways similar to the way we meet romantic partners,” said Zillow home-trends expert Amanda Pendleton. “Both involve wish lists, compromises and dealbreakers, and much of the legwork happens online. But unlike dating apps, tools like interactive floorplans and ‘virtual’ 3D home tours mean fewer home shoppers are disappointed when they see a home in person for the first time.”
Another reason may be expectations. Most people (62%) say their wish list for a romantic partner is more difficult to satisfy than their wish list for a home (38%), and 61 percent say they have more dealbreakers when it comes to choosing a partner.
Far more Americans surveyed are willing to compromise on qualities in a home to buy (67%) than qualities in a romantic partner (33%).
Still, most people are romantics at heart, at least when it comes to their home. Nearly three in four Americans believe they could fall in love at first sight with a home (73%), while more than half believe they could fall in love at first sight with a person (54%).
While 65 percent of singles would consider moving to improve their dating prospects, 84 percent say they would consider moving in order to buy a home.
Once they find it, most people love their home (80%, based on the survey results). The most common reasons people love their home are the memories associated with it (82%) and their home’s location, neighborhood or neighbors (77%).