IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/reesec/v48y2020i2p530-555.html

Beauty in the Eye of the Home‐Owner: Aesthetic Zoning and Residential Property Values

Author

Listed:
  • Thies Lindenthal

Abstract

This article empirically confirms one core motivation for architectural zoning: Shape homogeneity among neighboring homes increases the value of residential buildings. Drawing on large‐scale shape and transaction data, this study first develops a data‐driven measure of architectural similarity, condensing three‐dimensional shapes to univariate shape distributions. These algorithm‐based similarity estimates are good predictors of human perceptions of shape similarity and are linked to property attributes and transaction prices. For the city of Rotterdam, a price premium of approximately 3.5% is estimated for row houses within very homogeneous ensembles over buildings facing heterogeneous neighbors.

Suggested Citation

  • Thies Lindenthal, 2020. "Beauty in the Eye of the Home‐Owner: Aesthetic Zoning and Residential Property Values," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 48(2), pages 530-555, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:reesec:v:48:y:2020:i:2:p:530-555
    DOI: 10.1111/1540-6229.12204
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6229.12204
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1540-6229.12204?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Wolfgang Maennig, 2010. "Substitutability and Complementarity of Urban Amenities: External Effects of Built Heritage in Berlin," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 38(2), pages 285-323, June.
    2. James P. LeSage, 2014. "What Regional Scientists Need to Know about Spatial Econometrics," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 44(1), pages 13-32, Spring.
    3. LeSage, James P. & Pace, Robert Kelley, 2011. "Pitfalls in Higher Order Model Extensions of Basic Spatial Regression Methodology," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 41(1), pages 13-26, Summer.
    4. Asabere, Paul K & Hachey, George & Grubaugh, Steven, 1989. "Architecture, Historic Zoning, and the Value of Homes," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 181-195, September.
    5. Gabriel Ahlfeldt & Alexandra Mastro, 2012. "Valuing Iconic Design: Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture in Oak Park, Illinois," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(8), pages 1079-1099, November.
    6. Glaeser, Edward L. & Ward, Bryce A., 2009. "The causes and consequences of land use regulation: Evidence from Greater Boston," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 265-278, May.
    7. John M. Quigley & Steven Raphael, 2005. "Regulation and the High Cost of Housing in California," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 323-328, May.
    8. Mayer, Christopher J. & Somerville, C. Tsuriel, 2000. "Land use regulation and new construction," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 639-662, December.
    9. Franz Fuerst & Patrick McAllister & Claudia B Murray, 2011. "Designer Buildings: Estimating the Economic Value of ‘Signature’ Architecture," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(1), pages 166-184, January.
    10. Kerry D. Vandell & Jonathan S. Lane, 1989. "The Economics of Architecture and Urban Design: Some Preliminary Findings," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 17(2), pages 235-260, June.
    11. Ihlanfeldt, Keith R., 2007. "The effect of land use regulation on housing and land prices," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 420-435, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Elisabetta Pietrostefani & Ailin Zhang, 2026. "The economics of architecture," CEP Discussion Papers dp2150, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    2. Wayne Xinwei Wan & Thies Lindenthal, 2023. "Testing machine learning systems in real estate," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 51(3), pages 754-778, May.
    3. Saiz, Albert & Salazar-Miranda, Arianna, 2023. "Understanding Urban Economies, Land Use, and Social Dynamics in the City: Big Data and Measurement," IZA Discussion Papers 16501, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Julien Pascal, 2023. "Rental housing market and directed search," BCL working papers 179, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    5. Gabriel Ahlfeldt & Elisabetta Pietrostefani & Ailin Zhang, 2026. "The Economics of Architecture," CESifo Working Paper Series 12399, CESifo.
    6. Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Elisabetta Pietrostefani & Ailin Zhang, 2026. "The Economics of Architecture," Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers 0088, Berlin School of Economics.
    7. Guan‐Yuan Wang, 2023. "The effect of environment on housing prices: Evidence from the Google Street View," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(2), pages 288-311, March.
    8. Zuzana Brokešová & Andrej Cupak & Anthony Lepinteur & Marian Rizov, 2025. "Real Assets and Subjective Well-Being: Using a Novel Measure for Relative Effects," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 180(3), pages 1567-1591, December.
    9. Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Elisabetta Pietrostefani & Ailin Zhang, 2026. "The Economics of Architecture," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 561, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Koster, Hans R.A. & van Ommeren, Jos & Rietveld, Piet, 2012. "Bombs, boundaries and buildings," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 631-641.
    2. Bahadir, Berrak & Mykhaylova, Olena, 2014. "Housing market dynamics with delays in the construction sector," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 94-108.
    3. Raven S. Molloy & Charles G. Nathanson & Andrew D. Paciorek, 2020. "Housing Supply and Affordability: Evidence from Rents, Housing Consumption and Household Location," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2020-044, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    4. Molloy, Raven & Nathanson, Charles G. & Paciorek, Andrew, 2022. "Housing supply and affordability: Evidence from rents, housing consumption and household location," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    5. Gyourko, Joseph & Molloy, Raven, 2015. "Regulation and Housing Supply," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1289-1337, Elsevier.
    6. Tammy Leonard & Xi Yang & Lei Zhang, 2021. "The impact of land use regulation across the conditional distribution of home prices: an application of quantile regression for group-level treatments," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 66(3), pages 655-676, June.
    7. Sebastian Eichhorn & David Pehlke, 2022. "Unintended effects of regional planning in Germany," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 933-950, June.
    8. Jackson, Kristoffer, 2016. "Do land use regulations stifle residential development? Evidence from California cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 45-56.
    9. Martin Heintzelman & Jason Altieri, 2013. "Erratum to: Historic Preservation: Preserving Value?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 564-564, April.
    10. Paul C. Cheshire & Gerard H. Dericks, 2020. "‘Trophy Architects’ and Design as Rent‐seeking: Quantifying Deadweight Losses in a Tightly Regulated Office Market," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 87(348), pages 1078-1104, October.
    11. Liao, Wen-Chi & Jing, Kecen & Lee, Chaun Ying Rachel, 2022. "Economic return of architecture awards: Testing homebuyers’ motives for paying more," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    12. Elliot Anenberg & Edward Kung, 2018. "Can More Housing Supply Solve the Affordability Crisis? Evidence from a Neighborhood Choice Model," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2018-035, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    13. Ritashree Chakrabarti & Junfu Zhang, 2015. "Unaffordable housing and local employment growth: Evidence from California municipalities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(6), pages 1134-1151, May.
    14. Christian A. L. Hilber, 2017. "The Economic Implications of House Price Capitalization: A Synthesis," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 45(2), pages 301-339, April.
    15. Ehrlich, Maximilian V. & Hilber, Christian A.L. & Schöni, Olivier, 2018. "Institutional settings and urban sprawl: Evidence from Europe," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 4-18.
    16. David Christafore & Susane Leguizamon, 2015. "Spatial Spillovers of Land Use Regulation in the United States," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 491-503, June.
    17. Huub Ploegmakers & Pascal Beckers & Erwin Van der Krabben, 2018. "The impact of planning intervention on business development: Evidence from the Netherlands," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(14), pages 3252-3273, November.
    18. Larson, William & Yezer, Anthony & Zhao, Weihua, 2022. "Urban planning policies and the cost of living in large cities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    19. Kahn, Matthew E., 2011. "Do liberal cities limit new housing development? Evidence from California," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 223-228, March.
    20. Zhang, Junfu, 2023. "JUE Insight: Measuring the Stringency of Land Use Regulation Using a Shadow Price Approach," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:reesec:v:48:y:2020:i:2:p:530-555. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/areueea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.