Valuing impacts of proximity to Saguaro National Park on house prices

Abstract

Proximity to public lands is well established within the literature as having a positive effect on nearby house prices. However, little research exists examining the impact of proximity to national parks. We use a hedonic property model with matching methods to estimate the value of proximity to Saguaro National Park West and Tucson Mountain Park. We find positive impacts of proximity to each park, with a larger aggregate effect from proximity to Saguaro National Park West. Our results provide useful insight into the potential impacts of changes in land use designation on nearby house prices.

Measuring the Value of U.S. National Parks Using Hedonic Property Value Models

“…Turning to hedonics, the method has been used with some frequency to investigate the property value impacts associated with proximity to protected federal lands, including national wildlife refuges (Neumann et al 2009;Liu et al 2013) and national forests and wilderness areas (Hand et al 2008;Ham et al 2015). However, Mueller et al (2021) is the first study to use the hedonic method to value the MWTP to live near a National Park. They focus on the two parks: Saguaro National Park West and Tucson Mountain Park.…”

“…Recall that Mueller et al (2021) estimate an impact of proximity around $124,000 for houses within 1 km of Saguaro National Park West, and $160,000 for houses within 1 km of Tucson Mountain Park ($2020). The comparable values for living within 2 km of the parks are $48,000 and $63,000.…”

“…This captures the utility from having a national park in one's neighborhood (versus living farther away from the park). Mueller et al (2021) is the first study to use the hedonic method to value the MWTP to live near a U.S.…”

Economics of the US National Park System: Values, Funding, and Resource Management Challenges

“…1 To my knowledge, no hedonic application to national parks fully addresses these two concerns. In a recent study, Mueller et al (2021) use matching methods-which can partially mitigate the omitted variable bias problemin a hedonic regression to estimate the value of proximity to Saguaro National Park in Arizona, as well as a nearby local park, Tucson Mountain Park. They find that proximity to each park increases sale prices, with a larger aggregate effect from the national park.…”