IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jhouse/v62y2023ics1051137723000542.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of remote work on green space values in regional housing markets

Author

Listed:
  • Malik, Khyati
  • Kim, Sowon
  • Cultice, Brian J.

Abstract

We examine the extent to which the increased prevalence of work from home (WFH) due to the COVID-19 pandemic has made green amenities more desirable.22Data provided by Zillow through the Zillow Transaction and Assessment Dataset (ZTRAX). More information on accessing the data can be found at http://www.zillow.com/ztrax. The results and opinions are those of the authors and do not reflect the position of the Zillow Group. Specifically, we focus on ten metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States (Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Tampa) and use a hedonic pricing approach to identify changes in the implicit prices of yard space and park proximity. We use a combination of data sources, including the Zillow Transaction and Assessment Database (ZTRAX), Open Street Maps, Longitudinal Employer Household Dynamics Origin–Destination Employment Statistics (LODES), National Land Cover Database (NLCD), and the Environmental Protection Agency’s EnviroAtlas to study the interactions between the exposure of a given neighborhood to WFH shock and private yard space, as well as proximity to the nearest park. Our findings suggest that home buyers in all the MSAs, except Minneapolis and Pittsburgh, assigned a greater value to private green amenities during the post-COVID period. However, for the MSAs of Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for private green spaces decreased in the post-COVID period in the areas with large WFH shocks. No significant change in the MWTP for proximity to public green spaces is noted in the post-COVID period for most MSAs. An event study of yard space reveals that most MSAs experienced an increase in the hedonic price of yard space in the post-COVID period. In the pre-COVID period, for many MSAs, the hedonic price of yard space was decreasing over the years, and this trend reversed in the post-COVID period. These results suggest that the preferred amenity bundles of people living in major cities in the U.S. have shifted as a result of changes in their commutes and work habits.

Suggested Citation

  • Malik, Khyati & Kim, Sowon & Cultice, Brian J., 2023. "The impact of remote work on green space values in regional housing markets," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhouse:v:62:y:2023:i:c:s1051137723000542
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhe.2023.101967
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1051137723000542
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jhe.2023.101967?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kirsten M. M. Beyer & Andrea Kaltenbach & Aniko Szabo & Sandra Bogar & F. Javier Nieto & Kristen M. Malecki, 2014. "Exposure to Neighborhood Green Space and Mental Health: Evidence from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Cevat Giray Aksoy & Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis & Mathias Dolls & Pablo Zarate, 2022. "Working from Home Around the World," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 53(2 (Fall)), pages 281-360.
    3. Arjun Ramani & Nicholas Bloom, 2021. "The Donut Effect of Covid-19 on Cities," NBER Working Papers 28876, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Jan K. Brueckner & Matthew E. Kahn & Gary C. Lin, 2023. "A New Spatial Hedonic Equilibrium in the Emerging Work-from-Home Economy?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 285-319, April.
    5. Dingel, Jonathan I. & Neiman, Brent, 2020. "How many jobs can be done at home?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    6. Kelly C. Bishop & Nicolai V. Kuminoff & H. Spencer Banzhaf & Kevin J. Boyle & Kathrine von Gravenitz & Jaren C. Pope & V. Kerry Smith & Christopher D. Timmins, 2020. "Best Practices for Using Hedonic Property Value Models to Measure Willingness to Pay for Environmental Quality," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(2), pages 260-281.
    7. Liu, Zhaoyang & Hanley, Nick & Campbell, Danny, 2020. "Linking urban air pollution with residents’ willingness to pay for greenspace: A choice experiment study in Beijing," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    8. Irwin, Nicholas B. & Livy, Mitchell R., 2021. "Measuring environmental (dis)amenity value during a pandemic: Early evidence from Maryland," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    9. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C. & Urrego, Joaquin A., 2022. "JUE insight: Are city centers losing their appeal? Commercial real estate, urban spatial structure, and COVID-19," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    10. Cho, Seong-Hoon & Bowker, James Michael & Park, William M., 2006. "Measuring the Contribution of Water and Green Space Amenities to Housing Values: An Application and Comparison of Spatially Weighted Hedonic Models," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 31(3), pages 1-23, December.
    11. Mitchell R. Livy & H. Allen Klaiber, 2016. "Maintaining Public Goods: The Capitalized Value of Local Park Renovations," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 92(1), pages 96-116.
    12. Katherine Kenyon Henderson & Yan Song, 2008. "Can nearby open spaces substitute for the size of a property owner's private yard?," International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 1(2), pages 147-165, June.
    13. Liu, Sitian & Su, Yichen, 2021. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand for density: Evidence from the U.S. housing market," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    14. Christopher T. Stanton & Pratyush Tiwari, 2021. "Housing Consumption and the Cost of Remote Work," NBER Working Papers 28483, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Gupta, Arpit & Mittal, Vrinda & Peeters, Jonas & Van Nieuwerburgh, Stijn, 2022. "Flattening the curve: Pandemic-Induced revaluation of urban real estate," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 594-636.
    16. Erik Brynjolfsson & John J. Horton & Adam Ozimek & Daniel Rock & Garima Sharma & Hong-Yi TuYe, 2020. "COVID-19 and Remote Work: An Early Look at US Data," NBER Working Papers 27344, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Delventhal, Matthew J. & Kwon, Eunjee & Parkhomenko, Andrii, 2022. "JUE Insight: How do cities change when we work from home?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    18. Elena G. Irwin & P. Wilner Jeanty & Mark D. Partridge, 2014. "Amenity Values versus Land Constraints: The Spatial Effects of Natural Landscape Features on Housing Values," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 90(1), pages 61-78.
    19. Albouy, David & Christensen, Peter & Sarmiento-Barbieri, Ignacio, 2020. "Unlocking amenities: Estimating public good complementarity," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    20. Wang, Qian & Lan, Zili, 2019. "Park green spaces, public health and social inequalities: Understanding the interrelationships for policy implications," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 66-74.
    21. Anderson, Soren T. & West, Sarah E., 2006. "Open space, residential property values, and spatial context," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 773-789, November.
    22. Michelle C. Kondo & Jaime M. Fluehr & Thomas McKeon & Charles C. Branas, 2018. "Urban Green Space and Its Impact on Human Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-28, March.
    23. Seong-Hoon Cho & Christopher D. Clark & William M. Park & Seung Gyu Kim, 2009. "Spatial and Temporal Variation in the Housing Market Values of Lot Size and Open Space," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 85(1), pages 51-73.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. repec:ags:aaea22:335486 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Howard, Greg & Liebersohn, Jack & Ozimek, Adam, 2023. "The short- and long-run effects of remote work on U.S. housing markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(1), pages 166-184.
    3. Schulz, Rainer & Watson, Verity & Wersing, Martin, 2023. "Teleworking and housing demand," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    4. Bergeaud, Antonin & Eyméoud, Jean-Benoît & Garcia, Thomas & Henricot, Dorian, 2023. "Working from home and corporate real estate," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    5. Behrens, Kristian & Kichko, Sergei & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 2024. "Working from home: Too much of a good thing?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    6. Gilles Duranton & Jessie Handbury, 2023. "COVID and Cities, Thus Far," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 29(2), pages 6-52, October.
    7. Arjun Ramani & Nicholas Bloom, 2021. "The Donut Effect of Covid-19 on Cities," NBER Working Papers 28876, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Parkhomenko, Andrii & Delventhal, Matthew J, 2023. "Spatial Implications of Telecommuting in the United States," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt97q6c2rg, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    9. Elisa Guglielminetti & Michele Loberto & Giordano Zevi & Roberta Zizza, 2021. "Living on my own: the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on housing preferences," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 627, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    10. Steven Bond-Smith & Philip McCann, 2022. "The work-from-home revolution and the performance of cities," Working Papers 2022-6, University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
    11. Jinwon Kim & Dede Long, 2022. "What Flattened the House-Price Gradient? The Role of Work-from-Home and Decreased Commuting Cost," Working Papers 2205, Nam Duck-Woo Economic Research Institute, Sogang University (Former Research Institute for Market Economy).
    12. Lee, Kangoh, 2023. "Working from home as an economic and social change: A review," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    13. Gokan,Toshitaka & Kichko,Sergei & Matheson,Jesse A & Thisse,Jacques-François, 2022. "How the rise of teleworking will reshape labor markets and cities?," IDE Discussion Papers 868, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    14. John Mondragon & Johannes F. Wieland, 2022. "Housing Demand and Remote Work," Working Paper Series 2022-11, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    15. Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2023. "The remote work revolution: Impact on real estate values and the urban environment: 2023 AREUEA Presidential Address," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 51(1), pages 7-48, January.
    16. Barrero, Jose Maria & Bloom, Nick & Davis, Steven J., 2020. "Why Working From Home Will Stick," SocArXiv wfdbe, Center for Open Science.
    17. Bick, Alexander & Blandin, Adam & Mertens, Karel & Rubinton, Hannah, 2024. "Work from Home and Interstate Migration," CEPR Discussion Papers 19101, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Gamber, William & Graham, James & Yadav, Anirudh, 2023. "Stuck at home: Housing demand during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(PB).
    19. Alipour, Jean-Victor & Falck, Oliver & Schüller, Simone, 2023. "Germany’s capacity to work from home," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    20. Nicholas Bloom & Ruobing Han & James Liang, 2022. "How hybrid working from home works out," POID Working Papers 059, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    21. Brueckner, Jan K. & Sayantani, S., 2023. "Intercity impacts of work-from-home with both remote and non-remote workers," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(PB).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Zillow data; Property value analysis; Work from home; Yard space; Green amenities; Hedonic pricing approach; ZTRAX;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets

    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:eee:jhouse:v:62:y:2023:i:c:s1051137723000542. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622881 .

    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.