A Quantitative and Time Sensitive Evaluation About the Impact of the new Doha Metro, Qatar on Land Values

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to evaluate the impact of the newly build Doha Metro System in Qatar onto property values using a unique data set. We compare property values at two significant points in time during the delivery process of the Doha Metro Red Line: Announcement stage and construction phase.Methodology: To our knowledge this is the first quantitative study using panel data collected from the Doha Ministry of Municipality on property values. The data set was compiled using Geodata and classified data provided by the Ministry. We use attributes from established Hedonic Pricing Models as well as spatial characteristics (distance to metro). We amend the econometric model by comparing the impact on and respective deviation on land values at two significant points in time, announcement of metro and end of construction, using statistical methods.Findings: In contrast to the expected we find that there is a positive effect on land values in the 500m to 1.000m distance band in comparison to the 0m to 500m band to new Metro stations in Doha. We also find that the announcement phase has a significant positive impact on property values in Doha. This contrasts with the related work of Grass (Grass, 1992) or Damm et al. (Damm David, 1980). Originality and Value: The meta-analysis on “Impact of Railway Stations on Residential and Commercial Property Value” Debrezion et al (Debrezion, 2007) finds mixed results ranging from negative to positive impact on property values due to spatial characteristics, temporal effects, and methodology. For the first time the impact of Rail Infrastructure on Land Values in Qatar was analysed. We found that impact on Land Value is correlated to specific project live cycle phases and to complement Hedonic Pricing models with its explanatory power.