There are several ways to improve the value of your home. One way is to remodel or add square footage, improving the overall quality and/or size of the home. Another way is through simple appreciation, letting the trends of a rising real estate market pull up the value effortlessly. However, there is a natural way to get a boost in value. It turns out that living near a couple of stores in particular can help raise the value. What are these stores? Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.
Zillow recently did some research about homes situated near Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. They analyzed all homes within a 1-mile radius of both health-oriented food stores and discovered that homes near them appreciated at a quicker rate than the median home in the United States. In fact, between 1997 and 2014, homes near a Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods jumped in appreciation by 148 percent and 140 percent, respectively. Compare that to the median U.S. home, which only increased by 71 percent in that same time period. Want to double your money? Live within a mile of a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe’s.
In Newport Beach, there is a Trader Joe’s located in the Crystal Cove shopping center and one in Costa Mesa, which is within one mile of some West Newport and Newport Heights homes. There are two Whole Foods locally that are located at Fashion Island in Newport Beach and on Broadway in Laguna Beach.
Why do homes near these two grocery stores experience such great growth in value? There are a couple of theories about this that Zillow identified in their research. First, these stores could just be very smart at identifying areas that are prime to rise and be the next hot spot. Another theory is that the introduction of these stores simply has a strong upward impact on home values. It’s also well-known that organic grocery stores tend to be more pricy than standard ones. The clientele who want to be in close proximity may be drawn to living near a store that they frequent and want to move into the area, thus helping to improve home values.
Most people like to know they made a sound investment in their real estate purchase. Watching the value of your home rise is a good assurance of that. Consider making a move toward your local Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s if you want to try improving your rate of appreciation without doing a thing (except maybe buying an ecominded product or two!)
By Holly McDonald
Holly Schwartz McDonald is a Realtor with Villa Real Estate who lives in Newport Beach and has been featured on HGTV’s hit show “House Hunters.” She can be reached at HMcDonald@VillaRealEstate.com.
