Fresh Prince of Bel-Air mansion increases surrounding property by 222%, data reveals

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air mansion increases surrounding property by 222%, data reveals

From the Fresh Prince mansion to the suburban home of Harry Potter – the world of cinema has gifted us some truly iconic properties. With the premiere of Bel-Air, a reboot of the Will Smith classic, airing last Sunday (13th February), Uswitch.com/mortgages wanted to find out if living near a famous on-screen property could increase your house value.

To do this, the average property value within the postcode of the famous home was compared to the average property value on the same street as the fictional house. The percentage increase in property prices was calculated, thus determining the iconic TV home which increases surrounding house value the most.

The results

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air mansion increases surrounding property prices the most

Uswitch.com/mortgages can reveal that the property with the biggest increase on surrounding properties is Will Smith’s mansion in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Located in Brentwood, California, the average property value within the postcode is almost €2.2million. However, this increases a staggering 222% when compared with the average property price on the same street as the iconic mansion, with houses averaging just over €7million!

Following closely behind in second is Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw’s Manhattan apartment on Perry Street. The average house price in the same postcode is estimated at just over €1.4million. However, properties on Perry Street - made famous by Carrie and the gang - can increase in value by a whopping 221%. With flats averaging €4.5million, this is a 60% increase to the average price of properties located near the Friends apartment - which is only a 30-minute walk away!

Completing the top three is the emblematic flat from Friends, where every member of the main six has lived in at one point during the series’ 10-year run. The average value of properties within the New York postcode totals just over €1.4million. However, when compared to apartments on Bedford Street where the flat is located, they increase by 100% to an average of just under €3million.

UK’s Sex Education and Downton Abbey properties make the top 10

The first UK property to make the top 10 is Otis Milburn’s gorgeous chalet home from Sex Education, which is located in Herefordshire. On average, property prices within the postcode of the luxurious forest-view home total just under €400k, but when compared to properties on the same street, this increases by 37% to just under €600k. The house, made famous by the show, is available for rental for up to 10 people, with prices starting at $1,016 per night.

The stately home from Downton Abbey in the south of Newbury follows just behind in eighth place. The average property value within the postcode of Highclere Castle is over €700k, however, this increases by just 9% when compared with the price of properties on the same street (€770k). With ‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’ premiering on 20th May in the US this year, it is suspected that these properties will face another boost in value. 

For the full findings, please visit https://www.uswitch.com/mortgages/guides/famous-homes-increase-property-value

Methodology

1. Uswitch.com/mortgages sought to determine if property values in a specific area are affected by the presence of a property used as a filming location.
   
   
2. Firstly, by using in-house metrics, Uswitch.com/mortgages compiled a list of 500 popular films and TV shows set in the UK and USA. By scouring IMDb for the highest-rated films and TV shows, this list was narrowed down to 38 in total. The UK and USA were used exclusively, as these two locations were optimal spatial ranges for freely accessible data.
   
   
3. Next, Uswitch.com/mortgages picked out the filming location of the main property for each film/show and researched the property address. Reverse-geocoding was then implemented on to the coordinates of each famous property to accurately secure the location.
   
   
4. Utilising Zoopla (UK) and Realtor (US), they were then able to collate historic price information for the property and surrounding properties. Given that only property prices by streets and postcodes were required, these were amended to match between addresses.
   
   
5. To calculate whether house prices were affected by the film or TV show, the difference between street price and postcode price was calculated, which allowed for the percentage increase or decrease to be discovered.
   
   
6. Several high rated films and TV shows were removed from the study due to having no effect on house prices: Breaking Bad, The Shining, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, 10 Things I Hate About You, Silence of the Lambs, and Bridget Jones’s Diary. Cruella was excluded due to the absence of information regarding a residential property.
   
   
7. All data was amalgamated and ranked in descending order, allowing Uswitch.com/mortgages to rank the TV show or film with the effect on property price.
   
   
8. Data was collected on October 10th, 2021 and correct as of then.
   
   
9. Currencies were converted on 15/2/22 using the Cooglefinance formula on Google Sheets, which calculates the current exchange rate.

Credit: https://www.uswitch.com/mortgages/guides/famous-homes-increase-property-value