Here's another little something homebuyers should consider when considering the location, loction, location of their dream home. A pair of housing experts from Zillow.com said recently there's a correlation between your proximity to a Starbucks and your home value, and that your house is worth more if you're closer to Starbucks than to a Dunkin' Donuts shop.
In an excerpt from "Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate," Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff and chief economist, Stan Humphries, say that a house that's within a quarter mile of a Starbucks would have sold, on average, for $137,000. A home that is not near a Starbucks would have sold, on average, for $102,000. Fast-forward 17 years to 2014. That average American home has now appreciated 65 percent, to $168,000. But the Starbucks-adjacent property has far outpaced that, appreciating 96 percent to $269,000 and slightly more than houses located near a Dunkin' Donuts shop.
What gives? Will buyers pay more for proximity to a double chocolaty chip crème Frappuccino blended crème, or is it simply a sign that residents can afford to blow $4.95 on their morning pick-me up? Rascoff and Humphries attribute some of the increase to the tendency of Starbucks to locate their stores in upscale neighborhoods.
"Whatever the reasons—because they genuinely like drinking coffee, or because they see Starbucks as a proxy for gentrification—it seems pretty clear that people are paying a premium for homes near Starbucks," the authous said. "And furthermore, it looks like Starbucks itself is driving the increase in home values."
