Majority of Americans Would Consider Buying a Haunted House, Survey Finds

THE INTERNET — Clever Real Estate, a company that matches home sellers with discount and low-commission agents, published its Haunted House Report: 2026 Edition on October 12th. According to the report, 54% of 1,000 American adults surveyed could be persuaded to buy a house they knew was haunted, while two-thirds would not willingly tell a buyer about a haunting in their own home.

Respondents were a hardy lot, by the survey's account. Some 71% said a house can be haunted, and 19% said they had lived in one. Of the 188 who said so, 76% reported they had not known when they bought. Strange noises were the most common tip-off, at 54%, followed by the feeling of being touched or watched. Of those who would buy knowingly, 62% said a lower price could sway them.

The report also ranks ghosts modestly among homeowner fears. Bad neighbors topped the list at 49%, while discovering a haunting came last of ten choices, at 24%. A confirmed haunting ruled out a purchase for 32%, fewer than a former meth lab at 40%. Younger respondents were generally more willing to buy than baby boomers.

Caveats appear in the source. The report does not say how respondents were recruited, and gives no margin of error. Some figures rest on as few as 50 people. The share claiming to have lived in a haunted house has ranged from 44% in 2021 to 14% in 2024.

On the law, Clever names New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Minnesota as having ghost-related disclosure rules, without citing a source. Weird Darkness notes that Massachusetts and Minnesota mention the paranormal in statute, and that both say a seller need not raise it. New Jersey's rule is a regulation for licensed agents. New York's stems from a 1991 case, Stambovsky v. Ackley, in which an appeals court let a buyer pursue rescission because the seller had publicized her Nyack house's ghosts.