How the downfall of Starbucks is destroying the housing market: 'This isn't just about coffee' [inte

[240B]

How the downfall of Starbucks is destroying the housing market: 'This isn't just about coffee'

Daily Mail
By MARTHA WILLIAMS
11 October 2025



Homebuyers are about to get some serious coffee jitters.

Starbucks just closed hundreds of locations, and while that's bad news for coffee drinkers, it could be even worse for the housing market.

The Seattle-based coffee chain shuttered over 400 locations in September after reporting six straight quarters of sales declines.

Closures spanned nearly all states, leaving people across the US uncaffeinated and raising questions about local economic health.

Starbucks closures can have a surprisingly big effect on housing markets.

This is because of the 'Starbucks effect' — the phenomenon where the coffee chain's presence is associated with rising property values and a perception of neighborhood affluence.

A Zillow study found that homes within a quarter-mile of a Starbucks appreciated far faster than those farther away — jumping 96 percent to $269,000 over 17 years, compared to a 65 percent rise to $168,000 for the average U.S. home — suggesting the coffee giant tends to move into neighborhoods on the rise.

On a broader level, the term also refers to how Starbucks sells a lifestyle — not just coffee. Its branding is aspirational, appealing to consumers who want a sense of comfort, community, and quality.

There is a similar concept tied to neighborhoods that have Whole Foods grocery stores.

(more)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/real-estate/article-15177679/starbucks-downfall-housing-market.html

[Free Vulcan]

Well if it was surrounded by a community of total cultural belovedness, then why didn't they have enough clientele to keep things running?

The economic logic of the article is weak.

[240B]

Well if it was surrounded by a community of total cultural belovedness, then why didn't they have enough clientele to keep things running?

The economic logic of the article is weak.

Not everything is a formal doctoral treatise. It is just a light article with food for thought. I liked it ... for whatever that is worth.

[Free Vulcan]

Not everything is a formal doctoral treatise. It is just a light article with food for thought. I liked it ... for whatever that is worth.

No, but to determine causes and effects, economics demands that the numbers add up.

I don't think the cause of a declining neighborhood is the cause that they think it is. If a Starbucks was so important to the community, then they should have had the numbers to keep it going.

Seems like something else is the real issue.

[catfish1957]

When times start getting tough, $7 for a daily cup of coffee becomes more problematic for the young, who seem to love Starbucks.

[Free Vulcan]

When times start getting tough, $7 for a daily cup of coffee becomes more problematic for the young, who seem to love Starbucks.

And that's the hard economics of things.

It makes me laugh, because I love my lattes and I can buy Aldi's whole bean organic coffee, 12oz for $8, grind it myself, put in organic milk and sugar, and costs me around $1.50 and takes me 5 minutes to make a double sized coffee cup. So go to bed and wake up 10 minutes earlier is the sacrifice to be made.

And I can tell you that alot of particularly young people don't go to Starbucks for the coffee, but for the social aspect of seeing and being seen. More useless bougie display culture that they now can't afford.

[240B]

If a Starbucks was so important to the community, then they should have had the numbers to keep it going.
Seems like something else is the real issue.

That is exactly the point of the article. Also the article says, 'This isn't just about coffee,' Stern stated.
Did anyone actually read the article?

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

House prices need to come down IMO. I say this as a homeowner too.

[The_Reader_David]

Actually, a Starbucks closing is probably good news for coffee lovers.  It almost certainly means (as is the case with the one closing nearest me) that there is serious competition from good local coffeehouses (which inevitably serve better coffee that the over-roasted "charbucks" stuff).

I suspect the "Starbucks effect" isn't an effect at all, but a correlation:  Starbucks sites their stores in places that are affluent and have rising property values.  (This is one thing we might actually ask Paul Krugman about and expect to get a useful view:  his Nobel Prize in Economics was based on work on business siting decisions.)

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Actually, a Starbucks closing is probably good news for coffee lovers.  It almost certainly means (as is the case with the one closing nearest me) that there is serious competition from good local coffeehouses (which inevitably serve better coffee that the over-roasted "charbucks" stuff).

I suspect the "Starbucks effect" isn't an effect at all, but a correlation:  Starbucks sites their stores in places that are affluent and have rising property values.  (This is one thing we might actually ask Paul Krugman about and expect to get a useful view:  his Nobel Prize in Economics was based on work on business siting decisions.)

That is true when one studies the list of Starbucks closings.

Note that they are overwhelmingly in blue states. 

I wonder what the correlation is?

Complete list of Starbucks stores closing updated to 2025
https://usearch.com/dataset/starbucks-stores-closing-list

[Wingnut]

Poser juice for poser house renters.