The arrival of Netflix in a quiet neighborhood is already changing the real estate market, judging by a recent incredibly quick and unusual transaction, but also by similar patterns in other locations over the years. In Little Silver, New Jersey, a five-bedroom single-family home just sold for $2.6 million, $500,000 more than the original asking price of $2.1 million.
As he reports New York Postlocal real estate agents are convinced that the reason for such an achieved price is only one, the so-called “Netflix effect”.
The streaming giant is currently building a $900 million production complex on the site of the former Fort Monmouth military base in Monmouth County. It is one of the largest film studios currently under construction in the United States overall, and the project is slated for completion in 2028.
“I expected the house to sell above asking price. I thought it would fetch between $2.3 and $2.4 million. I was thrilled when it sold for $2.6 million, and we had a very strong backup,” the real estate agent told the NY Post. Stacie Bender.
The house is located fifty kilometers from Manhattan, but also within easy reach of popular destinations on the Jersey Shore, which further increases its appeal.
The interest of buyers, however, was unusually high. After the property was advertised at the end of March, about forty groups of interested buyers arrived at the two open days, as many private viewings were held, and the first offer arrived the very next day.
“At first, people thought Netflix would bring in mostly support staff. But now we’re seeing ads for jobs with salaries over $750,000 a year and buyers looking for homes over $2 million,” Bender said.
Last May, Netflix officially began construction of the Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth complex, which will include more than 46,000 square meters of production space, sound stages, post-production facilities, offices and outdoor film sets.
The company expects the project to create thousands of jobs and generate billions of dollars in economic activity for the state of New Jersey. This is exactly why many investors and real estate buyers try to take positions before the studio is fully operational.
Although most users know it as a service for watching movies and series, Netflix has been aggressively investing in its own production infrastructure in recent years.
The largest American studio is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Netflix bought the former ABQ Studios in 2018 and then launched a billion-dollar expansion. The complex today includes dozens of production facilities and has become one of the most important film centers in the USA.
It was the first example of what today agents in the USA call the “Netflix effect” on the real estate market, because in the years that followed, interest in buying and real estate prices in that area grew. The city is, as it says on Wikipediarecorded a strong influx of employees from the film and technology industry, while certain neighborhoods near the studio became among the most sought after on the real estate market.
The architects spent five thousand hours designing this house, see if it paid off
In Europe, Netflix has placed its main production base in the British Shepperton Studios in Surrey, not far from London. The company uses dozens of film stages there and continuously expands its capacities to meet the growing production of European content. This has contributed to the growth of demand for apartments and houses among employees of the film industry, producers and technical experts.
Because of examples like these, local agents in New Jersey believe that the sale of a house for half a million dollars above the asking price is only the first sign of changes that could affect the entire area around the future Netflix studio. “The Netflix effect is just beginning,” says the NY Post text.
