Marketing the Rainbow: real estate

“Gay men and real estate are a dream marketing match.”
Financial Times, reporting on the UK gay market research study by Out Now and Millivres

Question: What do The Village (New York) 50 years ago, Soho (London) 35 years ago, Le Marsis in Paris 25 years ago, Manchester’s Canal Street and Sydney’s Surry Hills 20 years ago, Hell’s Kitchen (New York) 15 years ago and Bristol’s waterfront 10 years ago have in common?

Answer: Had you bought property in any of those places, at precisely those times, you would, within a short space of time, have multiplied your money 2, 3 or even 4 times, irrespective of the whims of the national property market. You would have bought a property just before the area became fashionable with the gay community, who seem to have a singular knack of identifying up-and-coming locations, bringing with it gentrification, trendy bars and nightclubs; then, hot on their heels (pun intended) come the young, fashionable straights, attracted by the chic boutiques and fancy bistros and, voilà, you have a local property boom.

Read my blog for Marketing the Rainbow.