Do Houses of Worship Affect Housing Prices? Evidence from Germany

Abstract

AbstractUsing hedonic pricing models, this paper analyzes the impact of houses of worship (HoWs) on the prices of adjacent condominiums in Hamburg, Germany. It addresses the questions of whether this impact differs between Islamic and Christian religious centers, whether potential effects persist even after the house of worship has been deconsecrated, and whether church bells affect residential property prices. This is one of the first studies on this subject to have been conducted outside the U.S. Controlling for spatial dependence and by using potentiality variables, positive externalities of HoWs within a radius of 1,000 m were identified. Compared with properties beyond this threshold, price premiums of 4.6 percent were detected for condominiums at distances of 100–200 m to the next house of worship. The results also show that the positive externalities near mosques do not differ from those of HoWs of other religions and that the positive effect of churches continues to be felt even after they have been deconsecrated. The influence of church bell ringing on the prices of surrounding residential properties, however, could not be substantiated.