SEATTLE, Feb. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- People spend an
overwhelming share of their lives at home or at work, and new
Zillow research shows how decisions about one are closely tied to
the other.
The nation's renters, home buyers and home sellers
overwhelmingly agree on one thing: They want no more than a
half-hour commute each way, according to the most recent Zillow
Group Consumer Housing Trends Report. And many choose to find or
create a home that enables them to avoid the twice-a-day slog
altogether by working from home at least some of the time.
The daily commute weighs heavily on home buyers' decisions.
Almost two-thirds (62%) of employed buyers said their commute to
work or school -- whether by car, bus, train, bicycle or on foot --
was very or extremely important in their decision about which home
to buy. A similar share of renters (57%) said the same when
deciding where to sign a lease.
In general, buyers, renters, sellers and homeowners across
various age groups and locations said their actual commute time was
20 minutes. Similarly, renters, buyers and sellers alike all said
the longest commute they'd be willing to accept when considering a
new home or job was 30 minutes.
Only about a third of recent buyers said they are willing to
commute 30-44 minutes, about 12% said they could handle 45 minutes
to an hour, and the same share said an hour or longer was okay. A
slightly larger share said 15 minutes was the max. Those were
similar for renters, sellers and homeowners.
Homes typically are more expensive the closer they are to a
region's urban core, so turning this desire for shorter commutes
into reality likely means spending more or making other sacrifices,
such as buying or renting a smaller home.
Perhaps most surprisingly is how often those surveyed said they
avoid their commute by working from home: about half of buyers said
they do at least one day a week, and about 1-in-5 said they work
remotely full-time. Younger generations are more likely to take
advantage of changing attitudes and new technologies that have
enabled a rise in telecommuting in recent years. Almost two-thirds
(62%) of Gen Z and Millennial respondents said they work remotely
at least some of the time, compared to just over half (54%) for Gen
X.
But while working from home does enable people to work in any
number of far-flung or off-the-beaten-path locales unattached to
traditional urban job centers, working remotely is – perhaps
surprisingly – more common in urban areas.
Just under a quarter (24%) of employed buyers who said they
always work at their employer's location live in urban areas,
compared to 41% who said they work remotely at least one day a
week. Similarly, almost half (48%) of sellers who said they work
remotely live in urban areas, compared to 29% who work on-site
full-time. The trend is similar, though slightly more muted, among
homeowners and renters.
So even if it's only part-time, working remotely is relatively
common and could begin to untie the bond between a given home's
location and its proximity to the office. But it might also mean a
home itself could require some type of change, such as adding an
office, or could lead some to choose a different home or location
altogether.
Among those who purchased a home in the past year and work
remotely at least one day a week, about half (53%) say that it
influenced some type of major housing change. More than a quarter
(28%) said working remotely impacted their choice to purchase a
different home, 24% said it influenced them to move to a different
location, and 14% said it encouraged a renovation or remodel.
"A longer commute can mean the difference between cooking dinner
with your family and zapping something in the microwave; or between
paying extra for childcare and hearing about your kids' day at
school," said Zillow economist Jeff
Tucker. "That's why it comes as little surprise that
Americans give careful thought to their commutes before moving to a
new home, whether they are shopping to buy or rent. The remarkable
thing is how universally 30 minutes each way seems to define the
border between acceptable and painful for commuters all over the
country. We also heard from a growing number of workers who have
managed to eliminate their commute by working from home, but even
they reported that it affected their home shopping decision --
either by freeing them to look at different locations, or guiding
their home-design choices."
The 2019 Zillow Group Report on Consumer Housing Trends is the
4th annual largest-ever survey of U.S. home buyers,
sellers, owners and renters, and asked 13,000 U.S. household
decision makers aged 18 and older about their homes – how they
search for them, pay for them, maintain and improve them, and what
aspirations and challenges drive their decision. Data from the full
report is available for free to the public at
www.zillow.com/report, and custom analyses are available to
journalists by emailing press@zillow.com.
About Zillow
Zillow® is transforming how people buy,
sell, rent and finance homes by creating seamless real estate
transactions for today's on-demand consumer. Zillow is the leading
real estate and rental marketplace and a trusted source for data,
inspiration and knowledge among both consumers and real estate
professionals.
Zillow's proprietary data, technology and industry partnerships
put Zillow at nearly every major point of the home shopping
experience, helping consumers search for and get into their new
home faster. Zillow now offers a fully integrated home shopping
experience that includes access to for sale and rental listings,
Zillow Offers®, which provides a new, hassle-free way to buy and
sell eligible homes directly through Zillow; and Zillow Home Loans,
Zillow's affiliated lender that provides an easy way to receive
mortgage pre-approvals and financing. Zillow Premier Agent
instantly connects buyers and sellers with its network of real
estate professionals to help guide them through the home shopping
process. For renters, Zillow's innovations are streamlining the way
people search, tour, apply and pay rent for leased
properties.
In addition to Zillow.com, Zillow operates the most popular
suite of mobile real estate apps, with more than two dozen apps
across all major platforms. Launched in 2006, Zillow is owned and
operated by Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z and ZG) and headquartered
in Seattle.
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