Share
There’s a lot of weight in the value of a home based on its name, finds researchers from University of Georgia. Add the word “country” or “country club” to a subdivision’s name and you may stand to increase the home’s value by up to 5 percent alone.
Researchers found that home buyers are willing to pay a premium when the word “country” or “country club” is in a subdivision’s name. In fact, buyers will pay 4.2 percent more for a property with “country” in the name and an additional 5.1 percent for “country club,” according to the study that evaluated MLS sales reports in Baton Rouge, La., between 1984 and 2005 to find out the influence a property's name has on home values.
Buyers associate the words with affluence and prestige. Wealthier buyers tend to pay more attention to the property’s name, researchers found. And the wealthy are even more willing to pay a premium for a property name that conveys prestige than they are to pay for a good school for their children, the study notes.
This is the first time a study has found that buyers are willing to pay more based on a property name. The findings may indicate that by simply having a prestigious name for a subdivision, home owner and investors stand to get a boost to their home's value, notes researchers Velma Zahirovic-Herbertand and Swarn Chatterjee in the study.
So I guess we shouldn't be too surprised if a flood of “country club” homes soon hits the MLS.
