It Turns out a Shocking Number of People Would Actually Buy a Haunted House, According to a Zillow Survey

If we needed more proof that the housing market is still crazy competitive and expensive, a new Zillow survey adds more fuel to the fire. The real estate marketplace found that more than two-thirds of prospective buyers—67% to be exact—wouldn’t say no to buying a haunted house if it had “appealing features, was in the right location, and was more affordable or for another reason.”

Yes, you read that right. It’s so tough out there these days that people are willing to live with ghosts and experience all sorts of heebie-jeebie-inducing things in order to become homeowners.

According to Zillow’s survey, 40% of prospective buyers say they would be convinced to buy a haunted house if it had features like a big backyard, pool, or a two-car garage. Another 32% of people say they would do it if it were in the right location. And 35% of prospective buyers wouldn’t mind owning a haunted house if it were priced lower than the rest of the market.

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“The combination of high prices, limited inventory, and rising interest rates is creating a witches’ brew of trouble for would-be homeowners,” Manny Garcia, a senior population scientist at Zillow, said in a press release. “Despite these chilling conditions, life events like job changes, coupling up, and having children still drive households to buy. These shoppers have to square their budgets with important home characteristics like bedrooms, bathrooms, and floor plans. When balancing so many priorities in an inventory-starved market, avoiding ghosts and ghouls doesn’t always make the cut.”

But it’s not just exasperation with the housing market that might spur someone to buy a haunted house—there are some people out there who actually seek out these homes. Zillow found that 29% of prospective buyers would be more likely to buy a home if it was haunted, and 20% said the ghost thing wouldn’t impact their purchase decision.