ST. LOUIS–How tight has the real estate market become as Halloween approaches? A majority of Americans say the fact a house is haunted wouldn’t stop them from buying it and, moreover, they find many house-related issues more frightening than ghosts.
The new research released by, appropriately, Real Estate Witch, titled Even Haunted Houses Won’t Scare Off Home Buyers in a Competitive Real Estate Market (2021 Data) further found 44% of Americans claim they've have lived in a haunted house.
In 2021's hot seller's market, 73% of Americans say they’d be open to purchasing a haunted house, up from just 59% in 2020, the research found.
According to the survey, factors that would make Americans open to purchasing a haunted home include:
- A lower price (63%)
- A safer neighborhood (57%)
- Modern renovations and/or appliances (41%)
- A better school district (37%)
“What’s more, 13% of respondents would prefer to live in a haunted house, and 27% would pay above market value for a haunted house,” noted Real Estate Witch.
The Findings
Among the other findings:
- Almost two years into the pandemic, nearly half of the respondents (44%) say they’ve lived in a haunted house — a significant leap from 2020, when just 24% of Americans said they had experienced a haunting.
- An additional 14% say they’re unsure, “leaving open the possibility of otherworldly explanations for their experiences,” the company stated.
- Not surprisingly, Americans are more likely to believe they’ve lived in a haunted house if they already believe in the supernatural (53%) — a group that overlaps with the 48% of Millennials who say they’ve shared a home with ghosts. Only about one in five Boomers (18%) also believe they’ve lived in a haunted house, the research found.
- Of those who reported living in a haunted house, 63% say they were aware of the haunting before moving in — and still chose to live there.
Haunting Experiences
Respondents reported the following haunting experiences in their homes
- Strange noises (64%)
- Feelings of being touched or watched (60%)
- Strange shadows around the home (59%)
- Ghost sightings (56%)
- Cold or hot spots in the home (55%)
- Certain rooms with an eerie or haunted feeling (54%)
- Objects moving or levitating on their own (50%)
- Previous owners disclosed the haunting (48%)
Even More Frightening
Though ghosts are frightening, other aspects of homeownership are even scarier, according to those surveyed, including mold (57%), foundation issues (56%), termites (54%), asbestos (54%), and water damage (54%).
Americans also fear floods (54%), fires (49%), and other safety hazards, yet many lack basic safety features in their home, Real Estate Witch stated. For example, 66% don’t have a radon detector, 45% lack an alarm system, 40% don’t have a carbon monoxide detector, 38% lack a fire extinguisher, and 29% don’t have smoke detectors.