Business Tips

How to Look For ‘Halo Effect’ Zip Codes

Looking for the next hip neighborhood? This interactive map from the Washington Post may help.

The news organization analyzed data from Black Knight Financial Services spanning most of the past 10 years—from 2004 to 2015—and created a map that shows exactly how much home values have changed since 2004.

While the map is useful for tracking how an area’s home values have changed and projecting future growth, it’s also an easy way to actually see the ‘halo effect.’

In this issue’s Inside Track article, “Hidden Treasures,” author Donna Shryer writes: “In their book, Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate, co-authors Spencer Rascoff and Stan Humphries, Zillow Group CEO and chief analytics officer respectively, explain how a neighborhood’s property values tend to improve when in the “halo” of an upmarket area. To predict the next hip community, look to the outer rings of an exclusive neighborhood’s halo.”

Using the example from the story, Boston’s Beacon Hill and Back Bay areas show explosive growth of more than 50 percent since 2004. As you keep moving out, the growth slows, but its better in some areas than in others. In your city, there may even be areas near an up-and-coming neighborhood that have actually seen negative growth and despite the halo effect, may not be on the rise.

Access this map and check out growth patterns in your area.