Location means almost everything in luxury real estate. In major cities, owning an iconic view might very well come in a close second.
There is no quantitative method to determining what an iconic view definitively adds to the value, or the price, of a property. But once on the open market, a premium certainly exists to be able to look out your window at the Central Park in Manhattan, the Las Vegas Strip or the Golden Gate Bridge.
So the folks at Realtor.com conducted a price analysis of properties with iconic views compared to those nearby without. So what price are buyers willing to pay for a view - most often from a luxury residence - that only a relatively few can have?
In San Francisco, owning a rare view of the Golden Gate Bridge brings a premium of 33.1 percent above median sales price. In a market where the median sales price is roughly around $1.3 million, the median sales price for a property with this view is $2,450,000, according to the study.
Of course, the reality is that roughly only a few hundred properties have this view. And they are limited to Pacific Heights and the Marina District, as well as limited views in nearby Knob Hill and Russian Hill, some of the most expensive neighborhoods in the most expensive real estate market.
Some of the premiums paid for other iconic views include Central Park in Manhattan (39.9 percent), Miami's South Beach (103.4 percent), Lake Michigan in Chicago (96.8 percent) and the Las Vegas Strip (210 percent).