Are Midwestern Homes Less “Seductive” Than Ones on the Coast?
According to an analysis of roughly 1.6 million home listings by Realtor.com, lower-priced homes were most likely to have the word “love” in property descriptions, while homes priced in the millions of dollars were most likely to have “sexy” and “seductive” in the descriptions.
—The Wall Street Journal (2/11/2016)
I think I can explain why “love” is associated with lower-priced listings: because terms like “well-loved” and “lovingly cared for” 
unfailingly telegraph that a home’s condition is dated.
Exclude those terms, and I suspect that the correlation between “love” and lower-priced listings would shrink or disappear altogether.
Translating “Lovingly Cared For”
On the other hand, I don’t have any trouble believing another finding of the Realtor.com study: nationally, listings in the Midwest are the least likely to use any terms of affection, including love.
Still waters — and Scandinavian stoicism — run deep. 🙂
See also, “Deciphering: ‘Well-Cared Home Ready For a New Owner'”; “Real Estate Euphemisms – New & Improved”; and “Real Estate Clichés And How to Avoid Them.”
