More and more people want to live closer to work. Not because they love their job, but because of the skyrocketing price of gasoline.  The cost of gas is influencing where people are choosing to buy a home, according to a new survey.

A Coldwell Banker Real Estate survey found people want to shorten the distance between home and work, and gas prices are the main reason for that.  Here are a few of the findings from the survey of real estate professionals:

• 89% say buyers look for homes closer to work because of the high price of gas.
• 45% are seeing buyers choose homes closer to shops and services as a result of increasing gas prices.

Some buyers are skipping the commute altogether:

• 77% of those surveyed said more buyers today are interested in having a home office compared to five years ago.
• 68% of the realtors believe the high cost of gas is either the reason, or a big reason, for this new work-from-home trend.

This survey doesn’t really surprise me. With gas taking up so much of a family’s budget today, people are going to drastic measures to ease the financial pain. Living closer to work and even working from home are two ways to take a huge bite out of the cost of gasoline.