Neighborhood’s Walkability Impacts Buyers

A neighborhood is just as important as the actual home when it comes to buying real estate. While this may seem obvious to most homebuyers and realtors, it’s a fact that’s becoming even more essential as a recent study showed that there is strong preference to walking over driving, particularly among first-time homebuyers and young adults, specifically millennials.

The study, conducted by the National Association Realtors and the Transportation Research and Education Center at Portland University, polled 3,000 adults living in the 50 largest metro areas in the U.S., including Sacramento.

As a whole, the survey found that Americans prefer walkable communities more so than they have in the past. Forty-eight percent of respondents reported that they prefer to live in communities containing houses with small yards but within easy walking distance of the community’s amenities, as opposed to living in communities with houses with large yards where they have to drive to all amenities.

When choosing a new home, respondents indicated that they would like choices when it comes to their community’s transportation options. Eighty-five percent of survey participants said that sidewalks are a positive factor when purchasing a home, and 79 percent place importance on being within easy walking distance of places. Women in particular value walkability in their communities, with 61 percent indicating that having sidewalks with stores and restaurants to walk to is very important.