Monday, September 21, 2015

Is it parks, schools, city services or affordability that you should look for when searching for a home with higher than average resale value? I was surprised to learn that while all those factors matter, homeowners lucky enough to be near one popular grocery chain enjoyed a boost in their home's value.

Jennifer Von Pohlmann recently headed into the aisles at RealtyTrac.com to get the lowdown on this story, and to determine whether living near a Trader Joe's of Whole Foods would provide a better boost if you had to sell.

Von Pohlmann examined home values, as well as appreciation and property taxes in U.S. zip codes with a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe’s. Her analysis revealed that homeowners near a Trader Joe’s have experienced better home value appreciation since their purchase, but also pay higher property taxes on average.

Here are some other details in Von Pohlmann 's findings:
 

• Homeowners near a Trader Joe’s have seen an average 40 percent increase in home value since they purchased. That's compared to 34 percent appreciation for homeowners near a Whole Foods, the identical average appreciation for all zip codes nationwide.
• Homes near a Trader Joe’s also have a higher value on average: $592,339, 5 percent more than the $561,840 average value for homes near a Whole Foods. Von Pohlmann found the average value of homes was $262,068 across all zip codes nationwide.
• She also learned that homeowners near a Trader Joe’s pay an average of $8,536 in property taxes each year, 59 percent more than the $5,382 average for homeowners near a Whole Foods.
• The average property tax across all zip codes nationwide was $3,239, according to Von Pohlmann.
• For this analysis she broke down home value and property tax data for 1.7 million homes, condos and co-ops in 188 zip codes with at least one Whole Foods store (and no Trader Joe’s stores) and 2.3 million homes, condos and co-ops in 242 zip codes with at least one Trader Joe’s store (and no Whole Foods stores).

Learn more at www.realtytrac.com.

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