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Home sweet heart: buyers find love after moving

More than 40 per cent of recent US home buyers haven’t just purchased bricks and mortar, but found love after buying their new abode.

According to a new Zillow survey, that number is even higher for Gen Z, with 64 per cent finding love after buying their new home.

Meanwhile, 51 per cent of first-time buyers reported finding ‘the one’ after securing their new home, while for millennials, that number was slightly less at 49 per cent.

The survey also revealed that buyers were more than twice as likely to find love in the big city, than the country.

Of the recent buyers who found love after moving into their new home, 68 per cent reported buying in an urban area, compared to 33 per cent who settled down in a rural area and 22 per cent who bought in the suburbs.

“Life events like coupling up and falling in love often prompt households to buy a home,” Zillow Senior Population Scientist, Manny Garcia, said. 

“What we found is that love does not just prompt home buying, but home buying appears to prompt love as well. 

“Homeownership can provide financial security, a stable foundation and a place to create lifelong memories. 

“For many buyers, it also appears to be, at least in part, the springboard to putting down roots and finding love.”  

The survey also revealed that buyers with an annual household income of at least $100,000 were about twice as likely to report finding love since buying their new home, with 58 per cent reporting such a connection. 

In contrast, only 28 per cent of recent buyers with incomes of less than $50,000 said they found love after their move. 

Mr Garcia said one possible explanation is that higher-income buyers tend to be younger, and the youngest generations were the most likely to report finding love after moving. 

Recent buyers with a median income of $100,000 and above were between nine and 11 years younger than those with incomes of less than $50,000. 

The survey also discovered that nearly half of single, never-married home buyers said they fell in love after moving into their new home (47 per cent), while divorced, separated or widowed home buyers were the least likely to report finding love after moving at just nine per cent. 

Gender dynamics also appeared to be at play, with male buyers about twice as likely as female buyers to report falling in love since moving into their new homes, at 55 per cent compared 28 per cent, respectively.  

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Kylie Dulhunty

Former Elite Agent Editor Kylie Dulhunty is a freelance content producer for the Elite Agent audience, leveraging her extensive copywriting and real estate expertise.