The magical part of Christmas films is believing that the Prime Minister can fall in love with his tea lady, an eight-year-old is able to fend off two determined intruders, and that a snowman can come to life.
And another rather unbelievable element is the whopping cost of some of the properties featured in some of your festive favourites.
Hybrid estate agent eMoov.co.uk has analysed how much the homes featured in Christmas classics such as Love Actually and Home Alone would now cost compared with the year the films were released, revealing increases of up to 1,000 per cent.
John McClane’s luxury LA penthouse in Nakatomi Plaza is now the most expensive, worth almost £4 million, but at least a home in Coventry where The Nativity was set is a more affordable £170,879 – even though the price has soared by almost 50 percent.
A detached house in West Sussex where the classic animation The Snowman was set has seen the biggest increase, soaring from £76,681 in 1982 to £858,500 today, an increase of 1,020 per cent.
Hybrid estate agent eMoov.co.uk has analysed how much the homes featured in Christmas classics now cost, with the Home Alone mansion in Chicago coming in at £1.5 million
Upset about the fall in value? The home is the only one on the list worth less today
HOME ALONE
Location: Chicago mansion
Price in 1990: £1,562,148
Current price: £1,505,674
Decrease : Four per cent
It’s not exactly a bargain price, but the Home Alone mansion in Chicago is the only famous Christmas film home that would probably cost you less today than it did at the time of filming.
In 2011, the real life colonial-style mansion on Chicago’s North Shore was put up for sale with an asking price of $2.4 million.
It finally sold 10 months later for $1.585 million – far below what the owners once hoped to get for it.
The property has a four-room master suite, a stunning forest-inspired dining area and the notorious attic bedroom where Kevin had to spend the night with his bed-wetting cousin in the film.
The Home Alone house today: The property was sold for $1.585 million in 2012, despite an asking price of $2.4 million
Die Hard
Location: LA Penthouse
Price in 1989: £847K
Current price: £3,924,103
Increase: 363 per cent
John McClane, played by Bruce Willis, visits his estranged wife on Christmas Eve at Nakatomi Plaza, the HQ of the Japanese-owned business where she works.
The building is in fact the Fox Plaza, Twentieth Century Fox’s official headquarters but if you were to purchase a similar luxury penthouse in LA you’d need serious cash.
Los Angeles experienced a surge in property values in November, meaning it would cost you 31 per cent more than last year.
And the value has increased from £847,284 in the late ’80s to around £3,924,103 today.
The Fox Plaza in LA was used to represent the Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard in 1989 (left). A luxury LA penthouse apartment would now cost John McClain (right) almost £4 million
Bridget Jones’ Diary
Location: Borough, London
Price in 2001: £230,675
Current price: £724,683
Increase: 214 per cent
It’s unlikely hapless singleton Bridget would be able to afford a flat in Borough market on her £23K publishing salary these days.
In keeping with the rest of the London property market, prices have soared 214 per cent in the past 16 years.
The real-life property is above The Globe pub and its proximity to the bustling market makes it an extremely sought-after location.
Bridget Jones resided in a flat above The Globe pub in Borough Market, which would have cost her around £230,000
How much? Bridget would face paying more than £724,000 for her apartment today
The Holiday
Location: Detached Cottage in Shere, Surrey
Price in 2006: £472,697
Current price: £768,500
Increase: 63 per cent
The sort of chocolate box Surrey cottage that Kate Winslet lent to Cameron Diaz in The Holiday was still expensive a decade ago, costing more than £474K.
Prices in Shere have risen six per cent since last year alone and are up 63 per cent since the film was first released.
The Surrey cottage that Kate Winslet lent to Cameron Diaz in The Holiday would now set a buyer back more than £768,000
Prices in Shere, where The Holiday – starring Jude Law and Cameron Diaz – was set have risen six per cent since last year alone
NATIVITY!
The price of a terraced house in Coventry where Nativity! was set has gone up to more than £170,000
Location: Semi-detached house in Coventry
Price in 2009: £115,456
Current price: £170,879
Increase: 48 per cent
Set in Coventry, the characters in Nativity enjoy somewhat more affordable properties than areas such as London.
However prices are on the march. A semi-detached house in Coventry has increased by five per cent since last year from to £170,879.
Love Actually
Location: Terraced house in Wandsworth, London
Price in 2003: £432,026
Current Price: £1,122,000
Increase: 160 per cent
Assistant Natalie tells the prime minister she lives in the ‘dodgy end of Wandsworth’, but even in 2003 the average house price in the area was above £400K.
Prices in Wandsworth have enjoyed a 160 per cent increase since 2003, so Natalie would have to serve up a lot of tea and biscuits to afford a home for more than £1.1 million.
Despite claiming she lived in the ‘dodgy end of Wandsworth’ Natalie’s Love Actually home was actually worth more than £400,00