The Christmas holiday is here, and just like we have must-see movies during the New Year, Europe and the United States also have a list of Christmas movies, including the classic "Home Alone." An economist recently analyzed the house where the protagonist of the classic film lived and said Kevin's family was "not ordinary."
The New York Times interviewed Federal Reserve economists and professionals to understand the economic situation of Kevin's McAllister family. Experts based their analysis on the facts in the film—the large mansion in a leafy neighborhood, the exclusive trip to Paris, etc.—that the family may belong to the top 1 percent.
According to Realtor.com, the exterior of the house used in the movie is located on Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, a suburb of Chicago, USA - one of the wealthiest communities in the United States. Analysis by three economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago also supports this view. The data includes the area's household income, property values, mortgage rates, taxes and insurance in 1990 (when the movie takes place) and 2022.
The New York Times reported: "Assuming that the McAllisters do not spend more than 30% of their income on housing, economists also determined that a family with an income of $305,000 in 1990 could afford this house (income would need to reach $665,000 in 2022)."
"According to (real estate website) Zillow's estimate of the Home Alone house, a similar home would cost about $2.4 million in mid-2022. A home of that value would be affordable to a household making $730,000, which is the top 1% of Chicago households."
Therefore, the protagonist's family in "Home Alone" is extremely rich, so it's no wonder that two stupid thieves targeted their family.
So, here comes the next question: How on earth did the gang in "Friends" afford to rent such a spacious apartment in New York, where housing prices are astonishingly expensive?