Most homebuyers get to know the people who live next door after they move in. But a new real estate app allows future homebuyers to learn a potential neighbor’s political leanings before they make what, for many people, is the biggest purchase of their life.
“The purpose of Oyssey [the app] is to democratize data for buyers in their home search experience … to get you, as a prospective buyer, a feel for the area and community,” says Darian Kelly, co-founder of Oyssey. “It's to get you to the understanding of, when I move here, these are the type of people that I might be inviting over for dinner. The type of people that I will be raising my child alongside.”
The Oyssey data is pulled from sources like election results, campaign contributions and information from marketing research firms.
The app has only launched in Florida and New York so far, but its founders say they expect to take it nationwide later this year. Realtors subscribe to Oyssey and then give their homebuyer clients access to the service.
For the initial launch, the platform breaks down political affiliation block by block, but Kelly says potential homebuyers will eventually be able to look up whether their prospective new neighbor is a registered Democrat or Republican.
Ben McCartney, an assistant professor of commerce at the University of Virginia, co-authored a study published in 2024 that found that 1 of every 100 moves is politically motivated, and that the people most likely to relocate for this reason tend to be less involved in politics.
“They don't want politics to be part of their everyday life, but then they get a new neighbor, and that new neighbor is not only very politically vocal, but also affiliated with the opposite party, and there's where we see the strongest tensions arise,” McCartney says.
The study found that current residents are slightly more likely to move away if they get new neighbors with different political views than if the new neighbor is affiliated with the same political party.
“So, political polarization isn't just a social media phenomenon but is affecting real economic decisions, as well,” McCartney says.
The study found the numbers of Democrats and Republicans who wanted to move away from neighbors with different political views to be roughly even. That’s why an app like Oyssey makes sense to McCartney.
“People do seem to care about the political identities of their new neighbors, so I'm not surprised that some company is now selling that information, or providing that information, to would-be buyers,” he says. “And I tend to be supportive of policies that make it easier for people to make informed decisions.”
The Oyssey platform also provides other data relating to quality of life for the individual homebuyer, such as where to find the most dog parks.
“Where is the area with the most registered dogs throughout their state or county?” Kelly says. “And we can try to get an idea and figure out where do the dogs live, because as a pet owner, that’s where I want to be.”
He dismisses any suggestion that Oyssey could contribute to deepening America’s political divide.
“I actually get upset by the question. … I think the question makes the assumption that you shouldn't be the driver, you shouldn't be the writer of your own story,” Kelly says.
“We believe that we're giving people the data and the information to control their own destiny and do what they will with that information. The data already exists.”
Oyssey’s stated goal is to make that public information easier to find.