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I can see both many pros and many cons of living in a bottom-floor apartment, as opposed to one on any other level/floor. I'm undecided myself, actually. However, I'm asking about what the general population/market thinks about this -- not for your personal opinions.

Is an apartment on the bottom floor considered more or less attractive than the other ones in an apartment building? Does it translate into more or less money in general when selling it?

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    If there was such a thing as "what the general population/market thinks about this", where do you think that information would come from other than people's opinions? Older people prefer the bottom floor. Many people prefer the location with the fewest number of attached units (noise from the neighbors). And before the locusts come, the floods will get all bottom-floor apartments :->)
    – Bob Baerker
    Commented Mar 14, 2020 at 21:27
  • I've always wondered about this myself, particularly when I was looking at real estate in a major city. Bob is right, there are a lot of factors at play. I looked around for data on this back in 2013, admittedly a while ago now, but I didn't find anything at the time. There's probably a lot more out there now data-wise but even if you collected all the data you're only going to have one small piece of the puzzle (unless you really go hard on this), as Bob pointed out. When I bought my first real estate I paid an independent broker for an assessment of the property value.
    – RWP - Down by the Bay
    Commented Mar 15, 2020 at 15:45
  • I'll be first to admit I don't know much about this stuff, but just to be clear for your very last question -- "Does [the purchase of a bottom floor] translate into more or less money in general when selling [the bottom floor]?" -- Are not "apartments" that are "sold" called condominiums? My (limited) understanding is an purchase of this type will provide the HOA much control over the units (eg noise). As actual apartments go I lived through the '94 Northridge quake, a bottom was crushed under an upper, now 26 years later, my knee won't handle stairs, so I'm in a bottom.
    – Jbowman
    Commented Mar 15, 2020 at 16:37
  • @BobBaerker Market prices could accurately reflect "the general population's opinion"
    – user20574
    Commented Mar 16, 2020 at 11:19
  • @user253751 - I agree. If a corner unit is more desirable and costs more than a center unit, it will sell for more later. But if growth is constant, the nominal profitability will be larger on the higher cost unit but the percent gain will be the same.
    – Bob Baerker
    Commented Mar 16, 2020 at 12:45

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I recently purchased the middle unit in a three-stack which had an asking price higher than the bottom floor, but less than the top floor. I inquired with my buyer's agent why this was the case - particularly because I had a preference for the ground floor because it had fewer stairs. His answer at the time, which may or may not be broadly generalizable outside of my specific market (Boston area, USA) and obviously individual buyers' preferences vary wildly:

Yes, units higher up are able to command higher prices, all else held equal. The reasoning related to me by my agent boils down to:

  1. Units at higher elevation have larger viewsheds - the effect of this will depend on what there is to be seen, in my case there's an ocean view.
  2. Units lower down, especially at ground level, are more vulnerable to (and thus more prone to) various forms of intrusion - burglars can attack ground units through windows without needing special equipment.
  3. Basement units, in particular, suffer from light issues.
  4. Street noise is closer to (and thus louder for) ground level units.
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