Sports Facilities as a Housing Amenity: Do Prices Follow Facilities?

Abstract

The sports facility amenity theory predicts that when facility sites change, home prices nearer the prior site decline while home prices nearer the new site increase. Using home sales data in the vicinity of two proposed facility sites for the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco, the data are generally supportive of the amenity theory. The study also shows that Euclidean and walking distance can yield dissimilar treatment effect sizes, thus compelling researchers to justify their distance measurement choice. Finally, the data provide weak support that home buyers respond to changes in facility re-designs towards increased public benefits.