The real estate service Zillow has tried to quantify what has long been real estate conventional wisdom: That gay neighborhoods carry a premium over other neighborhoods.
Zillow found that in almost all of the nation's 36 largest metropolitan areas, including Columbus, Ohio, housing is more expensive in neighborhoods with the most same-sex couples.
Comparing the median value of homes in a metro area to those in gay neighborhoods, Zillow found that homes in gay areas ranged from 0.5% more valuable in Seattle to 293.9% more valuable in Cleveland. (Zillow considers Riverside Cleveland's gayest neighborhood.)
In Columbus, homes in what Zillow calls the "gayborhood" of Victorian Village sold for 140.6% more than homes throughout central Ohio. The median value of a Victorian Village home is $375,800 compared with the median value of $156,200 for all of the Columbus area, according to Zillow.
In five of the 36 metro areas, homes in gay areas were less valuable: San Antonio, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Virginia Beach and San Jose, Calif.
Zillow uses Census data to determine each metro area contain the most gay people. In Victorian Village, for example, 4.75% of couples are same-sex couples.
