Home Values Boosted by Walking Convenience
CEOs for Cities is a national network of urban leaders dedicated to building and sustaining the next generation of great American cities. They just produces a study based on data from 94,000 real estate transactions in 15 major markets provided by ZipRealty
Here is What They Discovered
Homes within walking distance of schools, parks and shopping were worth more than homes in neighborhoods where you need a car to do anything. Typically, the study revealed equity premium for homes with higher Walk Scores ranged from $4,000 to $34,000.
Not long ago all you had to do was buy a home and you would profit, now the easy money is gone. Investment value and future return have to part of the purchase decision. According to CEOs for Cities, Walkable places have some of the best chances of perfoming.
The premium isn't quite the same from place to place. It seems that urban densitiy showed higher price gains based on higher Walk Scores. In smaller cities, like Tuscon and Fresno, price sensitivity to the walk score wasnt as great.
Rentability
It wasnt covered in the study, but my experience tells me that I can rent a home in the flats where you dont need a car to do anything faster and for more money than a comparable home in the hills. Home buyers need to consider the rentability factor as well. It compliments and confirms that being close to amentities is important to people and that they will pay more for the convenience. read more...
Thanks for Reading
Howard Bell
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