Effects of floor level and landscape proximity on housing price: A hedonic analysis in Hangzhou, China

Abstract

Floor level is an important factor influencing housing price. However, most existing literature just treated floor level as a control variable and simply obtained a linear relationship between floor level and housing price. To fill this gap, this study uses the hedonic price model to deeply investigate floor level premium. The emphasis of this study is on landscape proximity and also the interactive effect of floor level and landscapes. A better understanding between floor level, landscape proximity and housing price is provided. Contrary to most existing studies, the findings suggest that the relationship between floor level and housing price is non-linear and is different in multi-storey buildings and high-rise buildings. As for the interactive effect between floor level and landscape proximity, we find that the amenity value of landscapes shows vertical heterogeneity at different floor levels within a building. On the other hand, landscape proximity significantly affects the relationship between floor level and housing price. This study addresses issues that were not studied before but are crucial to estimate the value of floor level and landscapes. It provides important implications for a better living environment and urban planning.