How politically charged have things become in this country? Well, it turns out that more people would rather live in a neighborhood where they are a racial, ethnic or religious minority than a political one.
According to a new survey from Redfin, more than a third of homebuyers and sellers said they would be hesitant to move to an area where most residents have different political views than their own. Meanwhile, just over 20% of people say they'd be hesitant to move where they are a racial, ethnic or religious minority.
Redfin's survey shows that 38% of homebuyers and sellers said they'd hesitate to move to an area where their politics would put them in the minority. That's actually down slightly from the last few years, as in 2017, 41% of homebuyers said they'd hesitate to move where their political views aren’t agreed with, while in 2016, 42% said the same.
That decline shows that more people are becoming more comfortable living around people with different political views, but as Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather notes, things could get worse as the nation ramps up towards the 2020 election.
"This decade's tumultuous political climate has widened the aisle between parties not only in Congress and the voting booth, but in our nation's communities," Fairweather said. "While the share of homebuyers and sellers who hesitate about moving to a place where most people have different ideologies has been declining, I imagine tensions will start to flare again as we head into the 2020 election year."
Redfin said that 16% of respondents would be enthusiastic to move to an area where their political views were differed, an increase of 9% from 2017 and 8% in 2016. About half, 46%, said they were neutral about it.
When comparing age, 23% of respondents ages 25 through 34 said they were enthusiastic about moving to an area where residents don’t share their political views, while only 6% of respondents ages 65 and older said they would be enthusiastic about it.
(Image courtesy of Redfin. Click to enlarge.)
Meanwhile, just 22% of people say they'd be cautious about moving to an area where most of the residents are of a different race, ethnicity, or religion than they are.
Of those 25 years old and younger, 41% said they were enthusiastic about moving to an area where most residents are a different race, ethnicity or religion than them. Only 16% of people ages 65 and older said they were enthusiastic about the same thing.
“As more people—especially young professionals—head inland from blue coastal cities seeking affordability in smaller inland metros, it's likely they will seek out communities where they'll live, work and send their kids to school with like-minded people," Fairweather said. "We expect to see red places in the middle of the country become redder and the blues bluer as the migration trends we've been reporting continue."
(Image courtesy of Redfin. Click to enlarge.)
