According to Redfin News, a recent survey looked at how homeowners interact with their neighbors across the country. The study found that smiling is the most popular greeting method among American homeowners, with nearly half saying they smile at strangers they encounter in their neighborhoods. A quick hello comes in as the second most common greeting, chosen by about two in five homeowners, while making eye contact rounds out the top three at roughly three in ten.
When homeowners encounter people they recognize but don't know well, the patterns shift slightly. Just over half of homeowners greet these familiar faces with a smile, while nearly as many opt for a verbal hello. Waving becomes more common in these situations, selected by a significant portion of respondents.
The data reveals some interesting generational differences in how neighbors interact. Baby boomers are more inclined to greet strangers verbally compared to younger generations, with Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z showing progressively lower rates of saying hello. However, Gen X homeowners are actually the most likely to greet strangers with a smile. Despite this variation, smiling remains the top greeting method across all age groups for younger generations when they do interact with strangers.
Redfin's chief economist pointed out that these small gestures reflect how homeowners think about their long-term relationship with their neighborhoods. She noted that brief interactions like smiles and waves help people feel connected to their community, and these small investments in friendliness can pay practical dividends down the road when neighbors might help each other with everything from lending tools to offering assistance.
What I am seeing locally here in the Bay Area and throughout the East Bay tells me that neighborhood connection really does matter to people who are choosing where to put down roots. When I talk with buyers about a community, they're increasingly asking about how friendly a neighborhood feels and whether they'll genuinely enjoy the people around them. That Redfin survey captures something real about what homeowners value these days, and it reminds me that the best neighborhoods are often the ones where people make those small efforts to acknowledge each other.
