Hayden Rowe Properties

Whole Foods and Trader Joe's aren't just good for groceries

 Key Takeaways Homes near Whole Foods and Trader Joe's appreciate 140 percent and 148 percent, respectively -- nearly double the rate of the median U.S. home. Don't miss the real estate event of the summer

Organic food does your body good, but according to Zillow, it’ll do your home some good as well. As of 2016, 2.8 million homes are located near one of 375 Whole Foods locations or 451 Trader Joe’s locations, and those homes have appreciated at double the rate of homes in other areas. From 1997 to 2014, the median U.S. home originally worth $103,000 had appreciated 71 percent to $177,000. Meanwhile, a median home near Whole Foods originally worth $157,000 appreciated a whopping 140 percent to $376,000; and a median home near Trader Joe’s appreciated 148 percent to $407,000 during the same time. Although this trend could be credited to the fact that these retailers usually open their stores in high income areas, Zillow researchers showed that’s not necessarily the case. They found that before a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s opened, homes appreciated at the same pace of comparable homes across the city. After the store opened, homes in close proximity began appreciating at a faster rate. “Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are not simply piggybacking off already hot neighborhoods,” wrote Zillow data analyst Jamie Anderson of the study. Why you need predictive analytics to thrive in 2017 Actionize big data with predictive analytics to win listings “Rather, it appears both chains are either incredibly smart about finding neighborhoods on the verge of gentrifying, or the opening of either location positively impacts home values.” Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s aren’t the only retail chains that are bolstering home values. A previous Zillow study revealed that homes located near Starbucks bolstered home values as well. While the presence of a Starbucks doesn’t shift the pendulum too much in the coffee giant’s home turf of Seattle (16 percent), it can make quite the difference in other major markets. For example, the median value of homes located near a Starbucks in Boston appreciated 171 percent over a 16-year period compared to 126 percent for other homes during the same time.

-Marian McPherson.