Having a film associated with where you live is by no means a guarantee of high house prices but it seems some film locations have seen steeper increases than average, figures from Halifax have revealed.
To coincide with the 2015 Bafta awards on Sunday, Halifax looked at the house prices in the main locations for 20 major UK films to see who’s scooped the gong for best performance and who’s picked up the award for best supporting role.
Human Traffic
House prices around where this year’s two main contenders for film awards were set saw the biggest house prices rises of all 20 locations analysed in the past five years.
Overall the nine best performing film locations have all outperformed their regional averages in terms of house price gains in the past 20 years, although only six have seen prices rises more quickly than the national average of 236% since 1994.
Prices in Cambridge (The Theory of Everything) have risen 26% while costs in Milton Keynes (The Imitation Game) have gone up 25%.
In Cardiff, where the coming of age movie Human Traffic was filmed, average house prices increased by 12% over a five-year period from 2009 compared to the lower Welsh average of 10%.
Prices in the city also increased by a whopping 208% over two decades from 1994 – from £57,731 to £177,559. The Welsh average increase was 195%.
No connection
But Tony Filice, director of Cardiff-based Kelvin Francis Estate Agents, said there was no connection with any film’s production to an area’s property prices.
“Logically if you look at the timescales being compared there have been many variables. Certainly over two decades we have seen three recessions. The reality there is no connection whatsoever.
“We have had properties in which famous people have lived, including Dirk Bogarde, so although you can have a unique history to a property or an area in sales terms it is old news.
“It’s a great shame really because we have sold for a number of clients who are now famous and we’d love to enhance the value.
There is no doubt that a good bit of film history might create a unique selling point but unfortunately any correlation is purely coincidental.”
The Dylan Thomas effect?
Certainly the glare of the camera hasn’t created any star treatment for Swansea, where the 2010 comedy-drama Submarine was made and black comedy Twin Town was shot in 1997.
House prices there only increased by 9% over five years – less than the Welsh average – and 190% over two decades from £49,769 to £144,259, which again was less than the Welsh average of 195%.
Nigel Jones, director of southwest Wales estate agents John Francis, said celebrity could sometimes have an effect on property prices if there was a great enough cultural significance.
“We’ve never seen any difference due to films, as such, but the only thing I would say is that we have seen what we call the Dylan Thomas factor for sales.
“We haven’t seen it in Swansea or in Newquay, which also have huge significance to the poet, but certainly property sales are boosted because of Dylan Thomas in Laugharne. I suppose it does show to a degree how celebrity can impact on the perception on an area.”
Around the UK
Meanwhile the 1983 classic Local Hero, which was largely filmed in Aberdeenshire, has been the strongest performing film location over the past 10 years. The 86% rise in house prices largely reflects the strength of the local oil and gas-based economy, which was featured in the film.
Both The Theory of Everything (39%) and The Imitation Game (26%) again feature in the top five. And all five top-performing locations since 2004 registered house price gains in excess of their regional averages but only nine of the 20 did so.
Prices have at least doubled in all 20 film locations over the past 20 years. There has, however, been a very wide range in house price growth among the 20 locations. Shaun of the Dead, based in London, has recorded the biggest price gains (426%) while Gregory’s Girl (filmed in Cumbernauld in Scotland) has seen the smallest rise (107%).
The Theory of Everything (295%) and The Imitation Game (293%) have both experienced significant house price increases since 1994 and both feature in the top four.
Coincidence?
Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said: “This light-hearted look at property prices around the settings of some of the UK’s best-known films of the past few decades shows that this year’s two leading contenders for awards are also outstanding in terms of house price performance. The two have outperformed all others in the past five years and are in the top five over both the last 10 and 20 years.
“More generally there is a mixed picture with some of the Scottish locations faring less well although the area that formed the setting of Local Hero is number one over the past decade.”