23% of Gen Z is willing to live in a less safe location in order to own a home

Nearly a quarter of younger homebuyers value price and the ability to own a home over their own safety. This is one of the findings from an August report from real estate company Redfin. 

Gen Z is more willing to sacrifice security in exchange for owning a home than any other generation, with 23.7% saying they would do so. The figure drops for older generations. Only 18.1% of Millennials, 17.5% of Gen Xers and finally only 5.5% of Baby Boomers said they would make this tradeoff. 

"Younger generations have come of age during a housing supply crunch, where prices are at all-time highs. Couple that with them earning less—relative to older generations—and you can see why they are willing to make more serious sacrifices to find a home they can afford," Elijah de la Campa, chief real estate economist, said for the Redfin study. "When the typical household earns less than is needed to buy or rent a typical home, house hunters can’t afford not to make sacrifices."

Safety is the fourth most valued quality for homebuyers

Despite this preference among Generation Z buyers, 16.4% of respondents said their concern about safety and crime was at least one of the factors influencing their decision when choosing a home.

It was the fourth most cited reason overall for wanting to move, trailing only wanting more space, a lower cost of living and lower home prices, and on par with wanting to live near family.

Ahead of safety, buyers value the need for more space in the home first, something that was outlined overall by 32.4% and 41.3% by Generation Z buyers. Lower cost of living was the second most important reason in the decision to buy and move. Baby boomers gave cost of living the most importance of any factor, at 38.4%.