What’s it like to live near the location where a popular movie was filmed? For some, it might be cause for regional pride; a few years ago I stayed at a hotel in Santa Fe where the walls were adorned with memorabilia from the set of the movie Tombstone, which had been filmed nearby. And growing up not far from Monmouth University, where scenes from the 1982 adaptation of Annie were shot, offered some similar aspects of cinematic nostalgia.
Could living near a home where a movie was made also increase the value of your house? A recent analysis from Uswitch.com explores the effects of cinematically famous houses on the surrounding region. As Nisha Vaidya explained, Uswitch’s researchers used real estate and location filming data to determine whether the use of a house or apartment in a film or television show had had a positive effect on surrounding property values — and then they got to work on finding out which works had the biggest influence.
Here are a few takeaways from the report:
Never underestimate the appeal of California living. Of all the films and shows surveyed, Mrs. Doubtfire saw the highest effect: a nearby property value increase of 253%. (Of course, that location is in San Francisco which overall has seen meteoric real estate price increases since the ’90s, but Uswitch does note it seems to be even more pronounced here.) That was followed by Father of the Bride (243% increase on S. El Molino Ave. in Pasadena) and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (222% increase on N. Bristol Ave. in Los Angeles).
Why not live like a rock star? Nearly all of the locations that caused real estate prices to increase over 200% were found in the United States. The sole exception here? Bohemian Rhapsody.
Don’t count NYC out, either. Not surprisingly, Sex and the City also had a positive effect on the real estate around it, causing values to increase 221%. Not to be outdone, the film Stepmom caused real estate prices near where it was shot to go up by 133%, and the real estate prices around where Breakfast at Tiffany’s was made went up 142%.
There’s plenty more where that came from, including the surprising fact that American Horror Story: Murder House also had a positive effect on the real estate around its real-life location. For some viewers, the appeal of stylish real estate might take precedence over anything else.
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