If Barbie's Malibu Dreamhouse were real, it would cost $2.7 million more now than in 1962
REUTERS/Mike Blake
- Corelogic identified how much Barbie's iconic Dreamhouse has appreciated since its 1962 debut.
- The company compared prices in 20 metro areas, including Los Angeles, Phoenix, and New York.
- It discovered that Barbie's mansion has seen the most appreciation during the past three years.
Barbie's done it all.
She's been a doctor, astronaut, detective, lifeguard and even a firefighter — and now, she can add real-estate investor to her résumé.
A new report from Corelogic identifies how much Barbie's iconic Dreamhouse — if it were real — has appreciated in 20 markets across the country since its debut in 1962.
It discovered that Barbie's home purchase has been a successful real-estate investment. Corelogic found that in its original location of Malibu, California, the iconic mansion would have cost $77,537 in 1962, drawing from the home sales, tax appraisal, and listing data it uses to create price indexes for US metro areas.
Today, it would cost $2,807,328, representing a 3,521% increase.
To come up with the real numbers for the fake Barbie Dreamhouse, Corelogic drew from their sales, appraisal, and listing data, singling out properties that shared these features with the iconic property: A home that is at least three stories, has a single-car garage, an elevator, three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, living room, kitchen, and patio or outdoor space with a pool.
While a life-sized iteration of the Barbie Dreamhouse exists on Airbnb — though its booking period is now closed — it did not figure into Corelogic's price estimate. Corelogic's numbers also don't account for inflation. Insider calculated the percent increase over the decades.
"The Barbie Dreamhouse helps tell the story of the US real estate market over the past six decades, showing significant appreciation," Selma Hepp, chief economist for Corelogic, said in a statement.
Indeed, home prices have climbed over the past few decades — especially during the early years of COVID-19.
The onset of the pandemic in 2020 sparked an unprecedented home-buying frenzy in the US. As record-low mortgage rates made homebuying significantly more affordable, an imbalance of home supply versus buyer demand meant that the few homes made available were quickly bid above their listing price. This resulted in US home prices skyrocketing to never-before-seen highs.
Though higher mortgage rates have dampened homebuyer demand — leading to fewer home sales and slower price growth — home prices have remain elevated as those who can still afford a home purchase compete for the few homes available for sale.
Thomas Malone, a researcher with Corelogic, told Insider that given the location of Barbie's Dreamhouse and the demand seen during the pandemic, it's not surprising that Barbie's home is so expensive today.
"I took a look at the numbers and saw that, on average, 25% of the appreciation that Barbie has had on her Dreamhouse since 1962 has been in the last three years," Malone said. According to him, since 2020, Barbie's Malibu home has appreciated by a staggering 20.42%.