Owning a Home in an LGBTQ-Friendly Area Comes With a Hefty Price Premium

The cost of owning a home in an LGBTQ-friendly area in the U.S. comes with a hefty price premium of almost 50%, according to a report Wednesday from Redfin.

In a metropolitan area with state laws protecting LGBTQ people from housing discrimination, a home buyer needs to earn an annual income of $150,364 to afford a median priced home. That’s 46.8% more than the $102,435 buyers need to earn to afford a home in places without such protections, the online property portal said.

For the purposes of their report, a metro is considered to have protections if the state it’s located in prohibits housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity, Redfin explained. In the case of metro areas which span multiple states, Redfin considered the metro to have protections if at least one of the states it’s located in prohibits such discrimination.

“LGBTQ+ Americans face disproportionately large barriers to homeownership,” said Redfin senior economist Elijah de la Campa in the report. “On top of paying a premium to live somewhere that feels safe, many LGBTQ+ house hunters are earning less than the typical U.S. worker, and face discrimination while shopping for homes despite laws that prohibit it.”

The locales where individuals identifying as LGBTQ make up the largest share of the adult population are also those where housing is the least affordable, the report found.

In San Francisco, where 6.7% of the adult population identifies as LGBTQ—the highest share of any of the 54 metropolitan areas Redfin analyzed—only 5.1% of listings last year were affordable based on the median local income, one of the lowest shares in the country.

In Portland, Oregon, which had the second highest share of LGBTQ adults at 6%, only 6.7% of homes for sale were affordable; in Austin, Texas, where 5.9% of the adult population identifies as LGBTQ, 2.9% of listings were affordable.

And in Seattle and Los Angeles, where LGBTQ adults make up 5.2% and 5.1% of the population, 4.8% and 1.9% of homes for sale were affordable, respectively.

All but one of those top LGBTQ metros—Austin—has state-level protections, the report said.

Former Aussie Rules player Jeff Chapman’s dream beach house, which has had its praises sung by The Independent in the UK, is back on the market with a revised – and more competitive – price guide.

The contemporary pavilion-style residence Alinghi, created by celebrated architect James Grose, was voted one of the top five beach houses in the world by the British newspaper and has been operating as a luxury holiday rental earning up to $7000 a week.

The one-time Melbourne forward and founder of Bennelong Funds Management, and his wife Carena Shankar, listed the five-bedroom getaway back in mid 2024 with hopes of about $8 million. The prestige property is now back with new agent Pauline Karatau of Ray White New Farm and the amended guide now sits at $6.5 million.

As part of the private 5ha Rocky Point estate, at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef overlooking Honeymoon Bay, the glamorous holiday home shares not only a private beach with just four other neighbours, but also a 30m saltwater pool, a full-size tennis court, a beach cabana with barbecue facilities and a full-time live-in caretaker on site.

Alinghi seemingly floats against the cliffs of North Queensland’s Capricorn Coast consisting of two pavilions and shallow reflections pools for ultimate serenity. Residence number 5 is home to a two-storey main pavilion with large living spaces spilling onto semi-enclosed areas framing enviable ocean views. Upstairs there are four bedrooms, including two with ensuites. The second pavilion is a private retreat housing the main bedroom suite with an additional study or wellness space.

Crafted by Grose to leave minimal impact on its natural environment, the house features external materials sourced locally including rich cedar, plus glass and Travertine stone specifically chosen to blend and weather with the landscape over time.

The low maintenance property is also relatively self sufficient thanks to water tanks collecting the region’s abundant rainfall. Despite it’s northern Queensland address air-conditioning is an after-thought due to the clever cross-ventilation design principles and deliberate orientation capturing ocean breezes that flow through the large footprint.

Alinghi’s external lightning has also been carefully designed to be low voltage with minimum impact upon the local wildlife including wallabies, echidnas, goannas, turtles and even a diverse range of native birds. From the private terraces throughout winter, homeowners can also track the migratory whales.

Alinghi is a 90-minute drive away from Agnes Waters and its sister town of 1770 (also known as Seventeen Seventy). It is approximately 120kms from Bundaberg, which is home to a well-serviced domestic airport.

Alinghi is listed for sale with a price guide of $6.5 million via Ray White New Farm agent Pauline Karatau on 0418 733 773.