Gas Prices and Home Buying

Earlier today we released research indicating that rising gas prices have become a major factor for consumers when searching for a new home. According to the survey on HomePages.com, 70 percent of home buyers now consider gas prices an important factor when choosing where to live. A full 45 percent of respondents called gas prices a "very important" factor.

We also asked consumers to reiterate what factors are most important overall when choosing where to live. These questions were first asked last summer by Kelton Research. As of last August, 74 percent of consumers said that neighborhood was more important than the house itself, and nine percent of home buyers said that short commutes to work were also imporant.

As of last week, it looks like short commutes mean a whole lot more. Based on our new survey, 40 percent of home buyers consider a short work commute very important. Thirty-nine percent said that proximity to good schools was important, and 24 percent said proximity to parks, water and other recreation was important.