Whole Foods vs. Trader Joe’s: Which Grocery Store Has the ‘Starbucks Effect’ on Home Values?

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Which grocery store has the "Starbucks Effect": Trader Joe's or Whole Food?

Which grocery store has the “Starbucks Effect”: Trader Joe’s or Whole Food? (Photo: t2RealEstate)

Which upscale grocery has the “Starbucks Effect”: Whole Foods or Trader Joes? That’s what RealtyTrac recently analyzed.

If you haven’t heard of the “Starbucks Effect” here’s a little primer:

“Homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro appreciated 49.7 percent between January 1997 and December 2013,” Humphries said. “But if you look just at homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro and within a quarter mile of a Starbucks, you see the Starbucks effect: Those homes appreciated 56.9 percent.”

Humphries said they were surprised by how decisive the results were.

“Over the past 17 years, we found that homes within a quarter mile of a Starbucks doubled in value, whereas the average home in the U.S. appreciated 65 percent over the same time,” he said.

Well, Dallas has Whole Foods locations in the Park Cities and Preston Hollow, two of the priciest neighborhoods in Dallas. But you can find Trader Joe’s on Lower Greenville, in Lake Highlands, and in Inwood Village — all up-and-coming areas with great character and rising home values …

RealtyTrac says that homeowners in the same Zip Code as a Trader Joe’s experienced a 6 percent higher price appreciation than those homeowners in the same Zip Code as Whole Foods. I bet those who live in a Zip Code with both, such as Lakewood, are off-the-charts when it comes to appreciation.

Homeowners near a Trader Joe’s have seen an average 40 percent increase in home value since they purchased, compared to 34 percent appreciation for homeowners near a Whole Foods.

Average appreciation for all zip codes nationwide is also 34 percent.

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.

The average value of homes was $262,068 across all zip codes nationwide.

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.

What would you rather live near?

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Joanna England is the Executive Editor at CandysDirt.com and covers the North Texas housing market.

3 Comments

  1. Brad on September 3, 2015 at 4:52 pm

    Given a choice, I’ll take a Tom Thumb any day.

  2. LonestarBabs on September 3, 2015 at 6:59 pm

    Heck, I’d just be happy to get an Einstein Bros Bagels in my neighborhood. We are dreaming of the days when we didn’t have to leave our area/neighborhood for goods and services — those were the days before our city “leaders” turned their eyes elsewhere (shiny! there’s a squirrel!) and let our area go to crap. Now the residents are fighting, and fighting mad. C’mon entrepreneurs, small business owners, and other quality retailers who want to help be part of a revitalization! The city may/may not help you but the citizens will welcome you!

  3. Scott on September 3, 2015 at 9:06 pm

    It appears to me that the real story is that Trader Joe’s has a better ability to identify emerging markets

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