IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hcx/wpaper/0707.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Impact of Wetlands Rules on the Prices of Regulated and Proximate Houses: A Case Study

Author

Listed:
  • Katherine Kiel

    (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross
    New England Public Policy Center, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston)

Abstract

Federal, state and local wetlands protection laws that restrict landowners’ ability to develop their properties in certain ways could decrease the value of the affected properties. However, the regulations could also give benefits to nearby neighbors who no longer need worry about increased development in their area. Given that some properties may decline in value, while others increase, the impact on individual properties must be determined empirically. This study uses a data set from Newton, Massachusetts to examine the impact of wetlands laws on the regulated properties, as well as on proximate properties. Looking at house sales data from 1988 through 2005, the hedonic technique is used to estimate the effect of wetlands regulations on single family home prices and finds that having wetlands on a property decreases its value by 4% relative to non-regulated properties. Homes that are contiguous to regulated houses do not experience any change in price. Thus it seems unlikely that neighbors are receiving any benefit from knowing that further development is restricted in their immediate vicinity.

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine Kiel, 2007. "The Impact of Wetlands Rules on the Prices of Regulated and Proximate Houses: A Case Study," Working Papers 0707, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hcx:wpaper:0707
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hcapps.holycross.edu/hcs/RePEc/hcx/HC0707-Kiel_Wetlands.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frech, H. III & Lafferty, Ronald N., 1984. "The effect of the California Coastal Commission on housing prices," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 105-123, July.
    2. Lupi, Frank & Graham-Tomasi, Theodore & Taff, Steven J., 1991. "A Hedonic Approach To Urban Wetland Valuation," Staff Papers 13284, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    3. Katharine R E Sims & Jenny Schuetz, 2007. "Environmental Regulation and Land Use Change: Do Local Wetlands Bylaws Slow the Conversion of Open Space to Residential Uses?," CID Working Papers 18, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    4. Rosen, Sherwin, 1974. "Hedonic Prices and Implicit Markets: Product Differentiation in Pure Competition," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(1), pages 34-55, Jan.-Feb..
    5. Doss, Cheryl R. & Taff, Steven J., 1996. "The Influence Of Wetland Type And Wetland Proximity On Residential Property Values," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 21(1), pages 1-10, July.
    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. Matthew Richardson & Pengfei Liu & Michael Eggleton, 2022. "Valuation of Wetland Restoration: Evidence from the Housing Market in Arkansas," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 81(3), pages 649-683, March.
    2. Bin, Okmyung & Polasky, Stephen, 2005. "Evidence on the Amenity Value of Wetlands in a Rural Setting," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 37(3), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Anthony Good & Emily Pindilli, 2022. "Estimating the Effect of Tidal Marsh Restoration on Housing Prices: A Hedonic Analysis in the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, Washington, USA," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-12, August.
    4. O. Ashton Morgan & Stuart E. Hamilton, 2009. "Disentangling Access and View Amenities in Access-restricted Coastal Residential Communities," Working Papers 09-10, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    5. 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.
    6. vom Hofe, Rainer & Mihaescu, Oana & Boorn, Mary Lynne, 2017. "Do urban parks really benefit homeowners economically? Evidence from a spatial hedonic study of the Cincinnati park system," HUI Working Papers 122, HUI Research.
    7. Doss, Cheryl R. & Taff, Steven J., 1996. "The Influence Of Wetland Type And Wetland Proximity On Residential Property Values," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 21(1), pages 1-10, July.
    8. Cotteleer, Geerte & van Kooten, G. Cornelis, 2012. "Expert opinion versus actual transaction evidence in the valuation of non-market amenities," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 32-40.
    9. Kriesel, Warren & Mullen, Jeffrey D., 2009. "Alternative Housing Development Strategies in Georgia's Coastal Marshlands," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49514, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Jeffrey P. Cohen & Robert G. Cromley & Kevin T. Banach, 2015. "Are Homes Near Water Bodies and Wetlands Worth More or Less? An Analysis of Housing Prices in One Connecticut Town," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 114-132, March.
    11. James R. Meldrum, 2016. "Floodplain Price Impacts by Property Type in Boulder County, Colorado: Condominiums Versus Standalone Properties," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 64(4), pages 725-750, August.
    12. Lyons, Robert F. & Loveridge, Scott, 1993. "An Hedonic Estimation Of The Effect Of Federally Subsidized Housing On Nearby Residential Property Values," Staff Papers 13377, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    13. Hansen, LeRoy & Hellerstein, Daniel & Ribaudo, Marc & Williamson, James & Nulph, David & Loesch, Charles & Crumpton, William, 2015. "Targeting Investments To Cost Effectively Restore and Protect Wetland Ecosystems: Some Economic Insights," Economic Research Report 199283, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    14. Touseef Hussain & Jaffar Abbas & Zou Wei & Mohammad Nurunnabi, 2019. "The Effect of Sustainable Urban Planning and Slum Disamenity on The Value of Neighboring Residential Property: Application of The Hedonic Pricing Model in Rent Price Appraisal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-20, February.
    15. Sorada Tapsuwan & Gordon Ingram & Michael Burton & Donna Brennan, 2009. "Capitalized amenity value of urban wetlands: a hedonic property price approach to urban wetlands in Perth, Western Australia ," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 53(4), pages 527-545, October.
    16. Earnhart, Dietrich, 2002. "Combining Revealed and Stated Data to Examine Housing Decisions Using Discrete Choice Analysis," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 143-169, January.
    17. Chang Deok Kang & Robert Cervero, 2009. "From Elevated Freeway to Urban Greenway: Land Value Impacts of the CGC Project in Seoul, Korea," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(13), pages 2771-2794, December.
    18. Stephen Gibbons & Susana Mourato & Guilherme Resende, 2014. "The Amenity Value of English Nature: A Hedonic Price Approach," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 57(2), pages 175-196, February.
    19. Masha Maslianskaia-Pautrel & Catherine Baumont pba148, 2016. "The nature and impacts of environmental spillovers on housing prices: A spatial hedonic analysis," Working Papers 2016.04, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    20. Belcher, Richard N. & Chisholm, Ryan A., 2018. "Tropical Vegetation and Residential Property Value: A Hedonic Pricing Analysis in Singapore," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 149-159.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environment; housing; amenities; hedonic pricing; wetlands;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • R2 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hcx:wpaper:0707. 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: Victor Matheson (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deholus.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.