Location, Location, Landmark: The Cost of Living Near Famous Landmarks

While some of the world’s most popular landmarks draw in millions of tourists each year, how many of us could afford to purchase a property close to these iconic spots? With the average apartment near the Hollywood Sign costing a whopping 1057% (or £1,219,076) more than the typical Hollywood pad, it seems unlikely.

But what about other popular travel spots? Here at Bolsover Cruise Club, we were curious about property prices near international landmarks, so we decided to do a little research…

Crunching the Data

Our curiosity involved a lot of number crunching and currency conversion. Looking at the landmarks highlighted on the world map, we sourced data from Numbeo for each location, to find the price per square metre for a city-centre flat. We also found that the average two-bedroom apartment measures 59.11 square metres.

Using this figure, we searched current two-bedroom apartment listings and calculated the average cost of properties within a one-mile radius of international landmarks. We converted all prices to GBP using XE Currency (all prices were accurate on 10/01/2019) and also explored Instagram hashtags to see how popular these places are with tourists.

Want to know the results? Here’s all the fascinating data we uncovered.

 

 

Expensive Near the Hollywood Sign

Although the USA is a popular travel destination, if you want to live close to some of America’s most famous landmarks, then you’ll need some serious cash. In fact, our research revealed that the US is home to two out of five of the priciest landmark locations.

Sitting at number one in our list is the Hollywood Sign. Property within a mile of this landmark sits at a cool £1,334,437, a figure that’s well over 1000% higher than the average Hollywood property – an affordable £115,361.

Taking second place is: Dubai. If you’re looking to buy near the Burj Khalifa, you’ll find homes are 687% higher than the average of £122,782 coming in at a colossal £966,747. In third place is the Washington Monument in the US, where purchasing property within a mile will set you back £2,171,061 – 678% more than the average £278,903.

In fourth, we head to Australia for the Sydney Opera House. You can expect to fork out £2,708,957 for homes nearby which is 459% higher than the typical £484,352. The Eiffel Tower takes the fifth spot, with properties costing 334% more than the average £559,403 Parisian home, at £2,426,441.

 

Towering Prices from Paris to Pisa

In addition to the five already listed, we analysed a further 15 international landmarks. This research revealed that property prices more than double within a mile of the top 13 locations, with increases of more than 100%.

Starting with the biggest increases, the remainder of these locations include: San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge (264%), the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong (261%), Tokyo Tower (185%), the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (171%), Empire State Building (169%) London’s Big Ben (151%), the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur (124%) and the Leaning Tower of Pisa (102%).

Cheaper Living by the Colosseum

Those in places 14 to 19 have an average price increase of 85% or less, making these international landmarks slightly more affordable. This includes the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (85%), Edinburgh Castle (43%), Beijing’s National Stadium (35%), La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona (17%), Prague Castle (12%) and Toronto’s CN Tower (11%).

Meanwhile, the landmark in position 20 was the only example of a tourist spot reducing property prices. In fact, homes within a mile of the Colosseum cost 0.1% lower than Rome’s average property value.

 

Instagram Insights: The Highest Hashtags

In addition to investigating property prices, we also looked at how popular these international landmarks are with tourists. Surprisingly, we found there’s little correlation between the two – it seems popularity as a holiday spot does not necessarily reflect an increase in property price.

Here are the top five hashtag uses and their corresponding price ranking:

1. Eiffel Tower. 5.2 million hashtags. (5^th on price increase)
2. Big Ben. 2.9 million hashtags. (11^th on price increase)
3. Golden Gate Bridge. 2.4 million hashtags. (6^th on price increase)
4. Empire State. 2.3 million hashtags. (10^th on price increase)
5. CN Tower. 1.1 million hashtags. (19^th on price increase)

The Link Between Landmarks and Property Prices

While the Eiffel Tower may be the most popular landmark on Instagram, property here comes in less inflated (334% increase) than our most inflated spot, the Hollywood Sign (1057%). As such, your dream of living a Parisian lifestyle could be more affordable than you originally thought.

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