The terms house and home seem to be used interchangeably in market stats, but I wonder if thats really appropriate.

House: a building in which people live; residence for human beings, a household. [Source](http://dictionary.reference.com/cite.html?pt=house&ia=luna&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdictionary.reference.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dhouse%26x%3D0%26y%3D0)

Home: a house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household. the place in which one’s domestic affections are centered. [Source](http://dictionary.reference.com/cite.html?pt=home&ia=luna&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdictionary.reference.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dhome%26x%3D0%26y%3D0)

Both refer to a residence but the phrase _home_ is more personal. There doesn’t seem to be a real correlation on who uses what pharse. Although the NAR uses _home_ most likely for marketing emphasis, so does the Commerce department when tracking new _home_ sales. Yet Commerce uses the term _housing starts_.

To me, _home_ implies warmth, personal, a residence and _house_ implies a unit of measure, a thing.

Plus a house is bigger, its got one more letter (wink).


5 Comments

  1. Yesim Numan August 28, 2006 at 3:10 pm

    I agree that there is a difference between “house” and “home” in terms of the underlying meaning they imply. I think “house” (or “apartment” in NYC) refers more to the property, while “home” is a warmer and much more emotional term to describe the place you live. The difference is most obvious when you compare a family looking to buy primary residence with an investor looking for property to flip or rent out. As a real estate broker, I would use the word “home” for the first, and “house” (or “apartment”) for the latter (not due to marketing concerns, but because I believe purchasing primary residence is the most personal and emotional transaction of one’s lifetime, and should be addressed appropriately).

  2. Madame X August 28, 2006 at 5:48 pm

    Aren’t there some stats that do only track single-family residences, i.e. “houses”, which if you’re getting into median or average prices, makes a BIG difference in NYC, where only the highest-end real estate falls into that category, as most “homes” are much smaller, cheaper apartments?

  3. John K August 28, 2006 at 6:10 pm

    I sell condos, but always use the word, “homes”, because it sounds “warmer”.

    Some people get really confused, when I say homes, because to them, home and house mean the same thing – a single-family dwelling.

  4. jf.sellsius August 29, 2006 at 12:17 am

    Zillow values homes, not houses.

  5. Justin S August 31, 2006 at 12:19 pm

    I use the term house when talking to a seller, and the term home when talking to a buyer…

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