Does Walkability Affect Housing Prices? Evidence from Miami

Objective: 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.

Methods: We replicate the positive effect of walkability on prices for single family homes and condominiums in Miami, Florida, using a unique dataset of house values and characteristics. We employ a fixed effects regression model instead of a traditional ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression model to account for the unobserved heterogeneity of neighborhoods.

Results: We find that walkability’s impact on housing value becomes statistically insignificant at the margin after controlling for heteroskedasticity and neighborhood fixed effects.

Conclusions: 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.

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Does Walkability Influence Housing Prices?. Social Science Quarterly 95, 3 p852-867 (2013)], which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12065. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions: https://authorservices.wiley.com/author-resources/Journal-Authors/licensing/self-archiving.html#3.

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Work Title Does Walkability Affect Housing Prices? Evidence from Miami
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Austin Boyle
  2. Charles Barrilleaux
  3. Daniel Scheller
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Social Science Quarterly
Publication Date November 18, 2013
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12065
Deposited January 26, 2024

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  • Created
  • Added Walkability_SSQ-1.pdf
  • Added Creator Austin Boyle
  • Added Creator Charles Barrilleaux
  • Added Creator Daniel Scheller
  • Published
  • Updated Subtitle, Description, Publication Date Show Changes
    Subtitle
    • Social Science Quarterly
    Description
    • Objective: 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. Methods: We replicate the positive effect of walkability on prices for single family homes and condominiums in Miami, Florida, using a unique dataset of house values and characteristics. We employ a fixed effects regression model instead of a traditional ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression model to account for the unobserved heterogeneity of neighborhoods. Results: We find that walkability’s impact on housing value becomes statistically insignificant at the margin after controlling for heteroskedasticity and neighborhood fixed effects. Conclusions: 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.
    • Objective: 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.
    • Methods: We replicate the positive effect of walkability on prices for single family homes and condominiums in Miami, Florida, using a unique dataset of house values and characteristics. We employ a fixed effects regression model instead of a traditional ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression model to account for the unobserved heterogeneity of neighborhoods.
    • Results: We find that walkability’s impact on housing value becomes statistically insignificant at the margin after controlling for heteroskedasticity and neighborhood fixed effects.
    • Conclusions: 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.
    Publication Date
    • 2014-09-10
    • 2013-11-18
  • Updated