Consumers aren't just buying more hybrid and high-miles-per-gallon vehicles, trip-linking to reduce drive times, carpooling and taking public transit more often to save on the rising cost of gasoline.

They are also taking a hard look at where to buy a home, in terms of how much it will cost them in gasoline.

According to a survey of more than 4,000 visitors to either HomePages.com or JustListed.com, 70 percent said rising gasoline prices are either "somewhat" or "very" important in terms of how they think about where they want to live. To nearly half, 45 percent, the issue was "very" important.

Only 30 percent said the issue was "not very important," "not important at all" or caused "no change" in their choice of location for housing.

The American Automobile Association says the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline has risen from $2.12 a year ago to about $2.88 now, in line with the rising cost of crude and just a few cents short of the all-time high of about $3.06 set in September last year.

One fifth of the states in the union already have averages at or above $3 with the highest state averages in Hawaii, at $3.40 a gallon and California -- the nation's most populous state -- at $3.36 a gallon.

HomePages.com, offering aerial imagery and neighborhood information with listings, and JustListed.com, an email delivery system for home listings service are consumer websites offered by Kirkland, WA-based HouseValues.com, which offers free real estate agent-generated comparative market analysis-based estimates of homes' current market values.

In another question allowing multiple answers, "What factors are most important to you when choosing where to live?" 40 percent said "Short commute to work," 39 percent said "Close to good schools," 24 percent said "Close to parks, water or other recreation" and 74 percent said "Safe neighborhood," HomeValues.com reported.

HomeValues.com said last summer, Kelton Research asked the same question and found that only 9 percent of consumers thought a short commute was an important factor in choosing a new home.

Rising gas prices also appear to be contributing to a spike in consumers' reliance on information technology.

"As gas prices continue to increase week after week, a natural reaction is for consumers shopping for homes to do more of their homework online -- well before getting into a car to search for homes," Steve Murray, editor of Real Trends, a Littleton, CO-based real estate publication told HomeValues.com.

The high cost of motor fuel likely will boost interest in a housing choice that can help roll back the cost of gasoline, so-called transit-oriented development (TOD).

TODs are constructed near or with destinations and services commonly visited or used -- work, school, worship, retail, health care, transit, etc. -- to provide more transportation options including shorter drives, biking, walking and public transit.

The developments can also help a home buyer land a "Location Efficient Mortgage", or LEM.

Just as "Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEMs)" allow a home owner with a more energy-efficient home to spend more money on housing instead of energy, LEMs allow home owners to spend a greater percentage of their income on housing when they spend less on transportation.

Published: May 30, 2006

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.