As Valentine’s Day approaches, a new study by Zillow found that homebuyers who chose to live in the big city are up to three times more likely to find love than if they settled in the suburbs.
As the staunch traditions of the concept of love, marriage, and homeownership are challenged—more people are buying homes solo, or co-buying with a friend or family member, or taking over payments for someone else—more than two-in-five recent home buyers (42%) reported finding love after buying their home.
This share is even larger for younger generations; the report found that found love at a rate of Gen Z (64%) after purchasing a home in a city while millennials (49%) and first-time (51%) buyers.
According to Zillow, there is a plot twist: nearly 70% of recent buyers who found love after their move reported buying in an urban area (68%), compared to 33% who settled down in a rural area and only 22% who bought in the suburbs.
“Life events like coupling up and falling in love often prompt households to buy a home,” said Manny Garcia, a Senior Population Scientist at Zillow. “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.”
They say money cannot buy you love, but it can buy you a house, which really increases your chances of finding that special someone. 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% reporting such a connection. In contrast, only 28% of recent buyers with incomes of less than $50,000 said they found love after their move.
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 the median income of $100,000 and above were between 9 and 11 years younger than those with incomes of less than $50,000.
Nearly half of single, never-married home buyers said they fell in love after moving into their new home (47%), while divorced, separated or widowed home buyers are the least likely to report finding love after moving (9%).
Finally, gender dynamics also come into play. Male buyers are about twice as likely as female buyers to report falling in love since moving into their new homes—55% versus 28%.
Click here to see the study in its entirety.
