Sarah Palin Named Most Desirable Celebrity Neighbor for 2009

Britney Spears Voted Worst Celebrity Neighbor for Second Year, According to the Annual Zillow.com(R) Celebrity Neighbor Survey

SEATTLE, Dec. 30 /PRNewswire/ — A December 2008 survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults reveals which pop culture celebrities and politicians Americans think would make the most appealing neighbors, and who isn’t welcome anywhere near the backyard.

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Most Desirable Neighbors for 2009

U.S. adults would most like to be neighbors with Sarah Palin (14%), followed closely by Oprah Winfrey (13%), according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive(R) and commissioned by real estate Web site Zillow.com. Retirees (26%) and residents in the South (19%) disproportionately favor Palin as the most desirable neighbor. Paparazzi magnets apparently don’t make the best neighbors, as only 2% of U.S. adults would like to be neighbors with David and Victoria “Posh” Beckham in the coming year.

It also seems age and gender play a prominent role in neighbor preferences:

• Among adult men, Sarah Palin is the most desired neighbor (17%), while 17% of adult women said that Oprah Winfrey was the most desired neighbor, ahead of Palin (12%).
• Among 18-34 year old men, Michael Phelps tops the list as the most desirable neighbor (17%). In comparison, only 9% of 18-34 year old women thought the gold medal Olympian would make a desirable neighbor.
• The gender gap reveals that among 45-54 year old women; 21% voted for Oprah, compared to only 6% of their male counterparts.

Worst Neighbors of 2008

Britney Spears, the trouble-prone pop star, was voted the worst celebrity neighbor in 2008, according to one in five (19%) U.S. adults. However, Spears’ reputation has improved over the past 12 months. In 2007, 21% voted Britney the worst neighbor. Rosie O’Donnell was a close second in 2008, with 18% of the votes, compared to 14% in 2007. Rounding out the top 5 worst list is Joe the Plumber (8%) Lindsay Lohan (7%) and Adam “Pacman” Jones (6%).

See the table below for notable variances in results among 18-34 year olds.

    Worst Neighbors                  All      Men     Women
    of 2008                       Adults    18-34     18-34
                                  (2196)    (380)     (321)

    Britney Spears                    19       15        21
    Rosie O'Donnell                   18       13        10
    Joe the Plumber                    8       12         6
    Lindsay Lohan                      7        8        13
    Adam "Pacman" Jones                6       12         2
    Eliot Spitzer                      5        3         4
    Spencer and Heidi                  4        5        11
    Paula Abdul                        2        *         3

    Most Desirable Neighbors         All      Men     Women
    of 2008                       Adults    18-34     18-34
                                  (2196)    (380)     (321)

    Sarah Palin                       14        6         5
    Oprah Winfrey                     13       10        17
    Michael Phelps                     9       17         9
    Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie       9        9        14
    Tina Fey                           9       11        15
    Anderson Cooper                    7        8         2
    Britney Spears                     3        8         2
    David and Victoria "Posh" Beckham  2        2         6

For full survey results or more information, contact Jill Simmons 206-757-2794 or press@zillow.com.

About Zillow.com

Zillow.com is an online real estate community where homeowners, buyers, sellers, real estate agents and mortgage professionals find and share vital information about homes, for free. One of the most-visited U.S. real estate Web sites, Zillow’s goal is to help people become smarter about real estate in every stage of the home ownership process — buying, selling, remodeling and financing.

Methodology

The Celebrity Neighbor survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Zillow.com within the United States between December 15 and 17, 2008 among 2,196 adults ages 18+. Note that “other” and “none” responses are not shown in the table above. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Jill Simmons at 206-757-2794.

SOURCE Zillow.com