Zillow: Here are the priciest ‘gayborhoods’ in the US

Same-sex couples have to pay over 200% premiums for an average home

Zillow: Here are the priciest ‘gayborhoods’ in the US

LGBTQ+ people have to pay more for a typical home in “gayborhoods” across the US, Zillow reported.

Zillow mapped same-sex couple households to calculate the premiums associated with gayborhoods – cultural communities for LGBTQ+ people – in major markets.

"During much of the 1970s and 1980s, people left cities in droves for outlying suburbs, driving down property values in urban centers," Zillow wrote in an article. "Disadvantaged populations, including LGBTQ+ people, moved in for the cheaper rents and a sense of community, becoming what sociologist Sharon Zukin describes as gentrification’s vanguard. They started new businesses and created thriving and tolerant neighborhoods that attracted more affluent LGBTQ+ people, who in turn helped the communities prosper further."

For example, same-sex couples living in over 9% of all homes in West Palm Springs, Calif., have to pony up $1.2 million, $369,300 more than a typical $369,200 home in the Riverside metro area.

While that 233% premium for a regular home in West Palm Springs is steep, a gayborhood in Cleveland is 294% overpriced -- the biggest premium among 36 metros in its analysis, according to Zillow.

However, a few gayborhoods like downtown San Jose, which has 1.1% of same-sex households, cost 38% less ($341,300) than the average $895,200 price of a typical home in the city.

"But, overwhelmingly, homes in gayborhoods come at a premium," Zillow wrote. "Ironically, that surcharge puts the neighborhoods out of reach for many LGBTQ+ people, especially women and people who are transgender and gender nonconforming. Those groups, on average, have lower incomes than cisgender gay men."

Here are the other most expensive gayborhoods in the nation, according to the report:

  • Los Angeles (with a 33% premium)
  • Miami-Fort Lauderdale (31% premium)
  • New York (20% to 117% premium)
  • Chicago (30% premium)
  • Washington, D.C. (20% premium)
  • Atlanta (17% premium)

 

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