‘Costco effect’: Realtors say proximity to the big-box juggernaut is now one of the 'top reasons' to buy a home

Staley isn’t your average Costco shopper. He visits his local warehouse at least four days a week for the free samples, deals and famous $1.50 hot dogs. In fact, he considers Costco his favourite place on earth.

Between the bulk groceries, discounted gas and everyday savings, proximity to the warehouse chain is becoming a selling point for some homebuyers and renters. Real estate experts have even given the trend a name: the “Costco effect.”

Is the Costco effect real?

Staley’s dedication to Costco might sound a little extreme, but he’s far from the only person factoring the warehouse chain into where he wants to live.

On Reddit, shoppers have shared just how much proximity to Costco matters when house hunting. One user admitted to checking Google Maps for the nearest warehouse whenever browsing homes on Zillow or Redfin, even joking that a beautiful house with a pool might not be worth it if the closest Costco is more than an hour away.

Another user said distance to Costco has become a surprisingly serious consideration in their search for a new home.

“I’m embarrassed to say how real the consideration is for distance-to-Costco in my deliberations. The friend who is enticing me to move keeps sending property listings which meet my needs, and helpfully adds, “This one is only 15 miles away from Costco!,” the user wrote.

It turns out this isn’t just something shoppers are talking about online. Ross Hardy, broker and team lead at The Hardy Team Real Estate, told Moneywise he’s seeing this play out firsthand.

“We sell a lot of homes in the suburbs where Costco’s are located and we are seeing a huge demand for homes in close proximity to a Costco,” Hardy told Moneywise. “I think the main driver for this is that Costco has become the primary grocery store for the middle class.”

What does the Costco effect mean for home values?

Jo Chavez, a Redfin real estate agent based in Kansas City, has seen similar interest, especially among larger families who regularly shop at Costco.

She recalled working with a family of seven who were moving from Colorado, where they’d lived just minutes from a warehouse. When she suggested a neighbourhood in Kansas City’s Northland area, one of their first questions was how close they’d be to Costco.

“Fortunately, it met their parameters and they bought a home exactly 10 minutes from the store,” she told Moneywise.

A 2026 study published in the Journal of Real Estate Literature looked at what happened to property values when Costco moved its warehouse to a new location in California’s Fresno-Clovis area in 2019.