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Does Walkability Influence Housing Prices?

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  • Austin Boyle
  • Charles Barrilleaux
  • Daniel Scheller

Abstract

type="main"> We examine the effects of neighborhood walkability on house values. Recent research claims that walkability makes homes more valuable, ceteris paribus. We contend that some studies report a spurious effect of walkability because of differences between areas with high and low walkability. We replicate the positive effect of walkability on prices for single-family homes and condominiums in Miami, Florida, using a unique data set of house values and characteristics. We employ a fixed effects regression model instead of a traditional ordinary least squares regression model to account for the unobserved heterogeneity of neighborhoods. We find that walkability's impact on housing value becomes statistically insignificant at the margin after controlling for heteroscedasticity and neighborhood fixed effects. The significant impact of the fixed effects suggests that something other than walkability is affecting prices and that better specified models are needed to discern the real price effects of walkability.

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  • Austin Boyle & Charles Barrilleaux & Daniel Scheller, 2014. "Does Walkability Influence Housing Prices?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 95(3), pages 852-867, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:95:y:2014:i:3:p:852-867
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ssqu.12065
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    3. Eun Jung Kim & Jaewoong Won & Jiyeong Kim, 2019. "Is Seoul Walkable? Assessing a Walkability Score and Examining Its Relationship with Pedestrian Satisfaction in Seoul, Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Omer Dogan & Jaewon Han & Sugie Lee, 2021. "Opening Gated Communities and Neighborhood Accessibility Benefits: The Case of Seoul, Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-15, April.
    5. Lindsey Conrow & Siân Mooney & Elizabeth A Wentz, 2021. "The association between residential housing prices, bicycle infrastructure and ridership volumes," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(4), pages 787-808, March.
    6. Yang, Ziqi & Li, Xinghua & Guo, Yuntao & Qian, Xinwu, 2023. "Understanding active transportation accessibility's impacts on polycentric and monocentric cities' housing price," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    7. Jingyuan Zhang & Puay Yok Tan & Hui Zeng & Ye Zhang, 2019. "Walkability Assessment in a Rapidly Urbanizing City and Its Relationship with Residential Estate Value," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-20, April.
    8. Haruka Kato & Atsushi Takizawa, 2021. "Which Residential Clusters of Walkability Affect Future Population from the Perspective of Real Estate Prices in the Osaka Metropolitan Area?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-20, December.
    9. Faysal Kabir Shuvo & Soumya Mazumdar & S. M. Labib, 2021. "Walkability and Greenness Do Not Walk Together: Investigating Associations between Greenness and Walkability in a Large Metropolitan City Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-15, April.
    10. Debanjana Dey & Noel Ritchey & Geoffrey K. Turnbull & Velma Zahirovic-Herbert, 2025. "Culture and Walkability: Ethnicity, Neighborhood Walkability, and House Price," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 70(2), pages 273-320, February.
    11. Trichês Lucchesi, Shanna & Larranaga, Ana Margarita & Bettella Cybis, Helena Beatriz & Abreu e Silva, João António de & Arellana, Julian Alberto, 2021. "Are people willing to pay more to live in a walking environment? A multigroup analysis of the impact of walkability on real estate values and their moderation effects in two Global South cities," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    12. Murakami, Jin & Villani, Caterina & Talamini, Gianni, 2021. "The capital value of pedestrianization in Asia's commercial cityscape: Evidence from office towers and retail streets," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 72-86.
    13. Youngme Seo & Michael Craw, 2017. "Is something better than nothing? The impact of foreclosed and lease-purchase properties on residential property values," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(16), pages 3681-3699, December.
    14. Tino Fauk & Petra Schneider, 2023. "Does Urban Green Infrastructure Increase the Property Value? The Example of Magdeburg, Germany," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-27, September.

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