Housing Transaction Data Research Articles

Catastrophic fires, human displacement, and real estate prices in California

Millions of people are displaced by natural disasters each year, yet little is known about how evacuees affect host communities. We analyze the migratory effects of the most destructive fire in California history, the 2018 Camp Fire, which destroyed over 18,000 structures and displaced roughly 50,000 people. By merging geospatial information on the fire’s footprint with Zillow’s housing transaction data, we estimate both the spatial and temporal effects of the fire on real estate prices at a granular level. A number of important insights emerge. First, within 25 miles of the fire’s footprint, home prices increased by 13 percent in the six-week aftermath of the fire. Effects decay with distance and are statistically insignificant beyond 100 miles. Second, effects are detected within two weeks of the fire, fully materialize within four weeks, and are persistent up to ten months (which exhausts our period of consideration). Results are consistent with the relocation decisions of evacuees and are robust to a variety of specifications and modeling assumptions.

Private school admission policy and the choice of public schools: Evidence from the housing market

The Ministry of Education of China started to introduce “simultaneous admission of both public and private schools” in 2018. Using housing transaction data from 2017 to 2020, we investigate the policy effects on residential properties in Hangzhou. We find increased housing price premiums for public school quality following the introduction of the new policy. The increase in the housing price premium for top-tier public schools was mainly driven by price gains for smaller, simple- and fancy-decorated, and older or quasi-new properties. In addition, we found a relative increase in the transaction volume of properties bundled with the second-best public schools versus those in the top-tier schools. It suggests that the increased price premium have led parents to choose a sub-optimal school quality, which might result in a widening inequality to be enrolled in top tier public schools.

Balancing education and real estate: The impact of the teacher rotation policy on school district housing prices

In this study, we use Shanghai as a case study, leveraging extensive housing transaction data from its pilot areas to analyze the impact of the teacher rotation policy on the differentiation of school district housing prices within the city. Our findings reveal that the policy significantly reduces housing prices in high-quality school districts, with the most pronounced effect observed in dual school districts. This suggests that the teacher rotation policy not only promotes a more equitable distribution of educational resources but also curbs the excessive and irrational inflation of school district housing prices in major cities.

Spillover Effect of Urban Reconstruction from Announcement to Completion on Residential Prices: Application of Two-Stage Spatial Quantile Regression

This study analyzed four urban reconstruction projects in Taipei City (Zhufeng Tianmu, Huaku Sky Garden, Leqin Sanxi, and Yongde Yanyan) that were completed in 2016 based on data released by the Urban Regeneration R&D Foundation. The housing transaction data spanned from January 2008 to December 2017. The difference-in-difference method was used in conjunction with quantile regression to analyze the spillover effects of urban reconstruction projects on neighboring areas during the various phases of these projects. The empirical results showed that, during the planning and announcement phase, the effect on housing prices was negative and statistically significant for mid-to-low-priced units but positive and statistically significant for high-priced units. During the construction and post-completion phases, the effect was negative and statistically significant for low-priced, mid-to-low-priced, and mid-priced units, with low-priced units being the most affected group.

Positive or Negative: The Heterogeneities in the Effects of Urban Regeneration on Surrounding Economic Vitality—From the Perspective of Housing Price

Urban regeneration is a sound, sustainable urban development strategy globally. In China, promoting urban regeneration has become the national sustainable urban strategy. Under the resource constraint, it is necessary to understand what benefits different types of urban regeneration projects can contribute to urban development. Much research has contributed to evaluating the benefits of urban regeneration on the project scale. The systematic investigation of their effects on surrounding economic vitality, especially the comparison between different types of projects, is relatively downplayed. This paper aims to evaluate and compare the effects of urban regeneration projects on surrounding economic vitality by calculating the change in housing prices. Chongqing is selected as the case city. Based on the housing transaction data from 2015 to 2021, a staggered difference-in-difference method is employed to capture the results. The finding shows that the overall effects are significantly negative, especially within a 400–800 m radius. Higher investment or better project location relates to stronger negative effects. Moreover, the differences in effects among the three types of urban regeneration projects are clearly revealed from diverse perspectives. It provides a valuable reference for policymakers and urban planners to make urban regeneration planning better by considering comprehensive benefits.

THE EFFECTS OF TRANSACTION HOTSPOTS AND FLIPPING HOTSPOTS ON HOUSING PRICES

In contrast to much of the literature that focuses on the issue of spatial dependence in housing price research, this study addresses the spatial aggregation of housing transactions and analyzes the effects of transaction hotspots and short-term flipping hotspots on housing prices by using real housing transaction data in Taipei City, Taiwan. The empirical results show that after controlling for the effects of spatial dependence and individual housing attributes, the impact of transaction hotspot areas on housing prices is significantly negative, while the impact of flipping hotspot areas on housing prices is significantly positive. The results verify that the key to driving up housing prices lies in flipping activities. Furthermore, the results of the spatial quantile regression model show that low-priced residential properties are more sensitive to the spatial concentration of housing transactions and flipping transactions in the housing market. Our results have implications for the government’s policy intending to control hot trade volumes to cool skyrocketing housing prices in a booming housing market. It is suggested that the government should pay attention to restraining short-term flipping activities in the housing market rather than setting constrains on housing transactions.

Multilevel effects of urban form and urban functional zones on housing prices: evidence from open-source big data

While the relationship between local housing prices and the urban form and distribution of urban functional zones in a single city is well-discussed, the conclusion is usually sensitive to a particular city context, and cross-city comparative study is limited. This study attempts to examine the influences of urban form and urban functional zone distribution on housing prices within and between cities after controlling the city-wide socio-economic and demographic differences. Based on multiple open-source big data, such as points-of-interest (POI) and historical housing transaction data, the hierarchical linear model is utilized to compare the housing market of 10 extra-large cities in China. Results indicate that the urban form and the urban functional zone distribution significantly influence housing prices after the socio-economic and demographic differences are controlled. For inter-city comparison, an urban form with high compactness, low centrality, low polycentricity, high density, and low dissimilarity in housing development is related to lower city-level housing prices. For intra-city, proximity to work centers, high-quality hospitals, and schools shows positive associations to housing prices.

Time-varying and land use-induced spillover effects of urban redevelopment: Evidence from Hong Kong

This paper investigates the time-varying and land use-induced spillover effects of urban redevelopment, providing a lens through which to understand the welfare implications of both the temporal dynamics and the land use changes that occur through urban transformation. By analysing redevelopment project and housing transaction data from Hong Kong between 2005 and 2020, we find significant, positive spillover effects of urban redevelopment on local housing prices following the redevelopment announcement, with diminishing magnitudes as the redevelopment project proceeds. We also find heterogeneous spillover effects associated with different functional land use changes in redevelopment projects. The direction and extent of these externalities depend on the trade-off between the changes in local amenities and the changes in the level of competitiveness in the local housing market.

Disamenity or premium: Do electricity transmission lines affect farmland values and housing prices differently?

A substantial increase in electricity demand has triggered a rising investment in energy infrastructure in the US over the last decade. This paper examines the capitalization effects of electricity transmission lines (TMLs) on nearby farmland values and housing prices in the Midwest from 2015 to 2019, based on 16,026 parcel-level farmland sales data from FarmlandFinder and 1,905,280 housing transaction data from the Zillow Transaction and Assessment Dataset database. Our estimation results reaffirm the disamenity effects of TMLs on housing property values and find that the disamenity effects are larger on houses in urban areas than in rural areas. Nearby TMLs generate premiums for surrounding farmland, which contrasts with the disamenity evidence due to aesthetics (either visual or audible) in the literature. We further show that farmland parcels within 0–2 km of TMLs in high-wind areas are approximately 3.10% more expensive than comparable parcels in low-wind areas. Our paper provides novel and contrarian evidence on the effects of TMLs on property values amid rising investment in energy infrastructure.

Co-Living at Its Best—An Empirical Study of Economies of Scale, Building Age, and Amenities of Housing Estates in Hong Kong

Co-living is commonly considered as an arrangement for rental housing. However, co-living in housing estates by sharing common amenities among co-owners has been practiced for many years in high-density cities. Yet, there have been very few empirical studies on the estate premium and the economies/diseconomies of scale effect on house prices, probably due to the lack of data. This study is a novel attempt to examine the economies/diseconomies of scale effect using the hedonic price model to estimate the impact of the number of housing units in a housing estate on house prices, ceteris paribus, using Hong Kong housing transaction data. The results confirm the hypothesis of estate premium and the economies of scale effect of co-living in housing estates. Economies of scale are observed, with larger estates commanding a premium of up to 5031 units, beyond which the effect declines, hinting at potential diseconomies. Building age moderates this effect, as we observe a larger scale effect in especially younger estates with lower maintenance costs. Additional tests confirm the positive correlation between amenities and prices, with an optimal amenity number enhancing prices, while excess amenities lead to diminishing returns. A case study reinforces these findings, demonstrating a general trend of decreasing management fees with increasing estate size, supporting the notion of economies of scale. Overall, this study contributes valuable insights for developers and homebuyers, emphasizing the importance of balancing estate size and amenities for cost-sharing advantages and effective management in co-living housing estates.

Valuing the Accessibility of Green Spaces in the Housing Market: A Spatial Hedonic Analysis in Shanghai, China

As a crucial determinant of urban livability, the importance of access to high-quality green spaces has long been recognized for achieving sustainable urbanization. In urban areas, higher values are usually placed in residential properties with higher accessibility to green spaces. Using housing transaction data from as many as 3388 residential communities in Shanghai coupled with high-resolution satellite data of urban green spaces, we comprehensively examine the relationship between residential property values and the accessibility of both community-owned and public green spaces. We find, in instrumental-variable estimations, that: (1) home prices, on average, increase by 0.17% if the overall green space accessibility rises by 1%; and that (2) a 1% increase in the green ratio within a community raises property values by 0.46%. Moreover, the number of accessible green spaces, area of accessible green spaces, and distance to the nearest green spaces have positive impacts on home values separately. We also find strong spatial dependence in urban green spaces and unobserved price determinants, as well as heterogeneity by location, property value, and housing type. Our empirical findings provide valuable guidance for real estate developers and local governments in valuing environmental amenities and urban planning in the context of a residential housing market.

Moving to the country: Understanding the effects of Covid-19 on property values and farmland development risk

As human populations grow, one strategy for meeting housing demand is through the development of agricultural land and other open space, which can generate negative externalities. This may be addressed at local, state, or federal levels with land-use planning, including farmland preservation policies. Efficient land-use planning in the presence of competing land uses requires knowledge of development risk, housing preferences, and the full costs of farmland loss. We conduct a national scale hedonic analysis using the ZTRAX program U.S. housing transaction data to investigate how COVID-19 has affected property prices in suburban and rural areas with farmland at high risk of development, for the purpose of understanding the effects of COVID-19 driven shifts in housing location preferences. Our analysis demonstrates that the pandemic caused differential price impacts across the 33 states that we analyzed. Furthermore, our estimates suggest heterogeneous price effects driven by the characteristics of nearby urban areas, with prices appreciating faster on land at risk located near smaller urban areas than those near larger urban areas. Our analysis finds that the spatial pattern of development pressure on agricultural lands, as measured through transaction prices, changed in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Housing Prices and the Characteristics of Nearby Green Space: Does Landscape Pattern Index Matter? Evidence from Metropolitan Area

This study aimed to examine the association between housing prices and green space characteristics with a special focus on exploring the effects of the shape pattern index. The research was based on a hedonic price model across two main distance buffers from residential properties to urban green spaces. Green spaces were characterized by size and shape measured by a landscape shape index (LSI). This study was based on 16,222 housing transaction data obtained from the website of real estate agencies during December 2019 in the Metropolitan Area of Beijing. Linear regression and semi-log regression analysis were used to examine the associations between independent housing and neighborhood characteristic variables and housing prices. The results suggested that a one-unit increase in the natural logarithm of the landscape shape index (LSI) can increase housing prices by 4% (5543 CNY ≈ 826 USD). Such marginal effects were more pronounced for residences located close to urban green spaces and tended to decay as the distance from residences to green spaces increased. Additional analysis captured the marginal effects of the natural logarithm of the landscape shape index (LSI > 1.3) on achieving the maximum monetary evaluation of the property. The findings of this study suggest that the effects of specific green space characteristics on housing prices should be taken into account in landscape and urban design.

Effects of Education Equalization Measures on Housing Prices: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Suzhou, China

Educational equity is the foundation of social equity, and education equalization is one of the serious issues to be solved by the government. This work considers one education equalization reform conducted by Suzhou Industrial Park of China, namely, the comprehensive "five to nine" (CFTN) housing purchase admission qualification adjustment policy, as an example and uses the resold housing transaction data to identify the effect of the equalization policy by the difference-in-differences (DID) method. Based on this natural experiment, the quantitative assessment results show that (1) the CFTN policy has a significantly positive effect on housing prices in nine-year consistent (NYC) school districts that belong to high-quality school districts; (2) the CFTN policy has no significant effect on housing prices in non-NYC consistent school districts that belong to ordinary school districts. These results uncover that the one-size-fits-all CFTN policy can only obtain significant housing price equilibrium effects in school districts above a certain level of education quality. For regions with backward education levels, the policy is ineffective. For these regions, continuously increasing high-quality educational resources and increasing educational service levels are essential solutions to reduce educational inequality.

The enrolment reform of schools and housing price: Empirical evidence from Shanghai, China

Based on the housing transaction data from Shanghai of China, the Difference-in-Differences (DID) model is taken to evaluate the synchronous enrolment policy which aim to equalize access to public and private schools. The results indicate that the policy increased the housing prices of high-quality public primary school districts by an average of 1.6%. Moreover, the policy has different impacts on housing premium in elite school districts at different levels. The estimated values of the housing premium in top-, second- and third-class key primary schools district were 6.7%, 2.5% and −1.2%, respectively. The policy impacted mainly significantly on small-sized houses. For the houses smaller than 40m2 and 40–60m2, the housing premiums were 2.1% and 1.8% respectively. To eliminate the uncertainty of participating in public school enrolment after the failure of enrolment in private schools, many families gave up the rights to choose private schools and bought houses in high-quality public-school districts with lower enrolment risk. The policy inhibited the families’ zeal for choosing high-quality private schools, but intensified the competition of “school selection by housing” for high-quality public schools. In order to bridge the gap between public schools and private schools, systematic policy adjustments are suggested including “double reduction policy”, “muti-schools district policy”, etc.

Assessing the impact of wildfires on property values in wildland-urban intermix and interface in Colorado: A hedonic approach.

In this article, we investigate the impact of wildfire on property values in wildland-urban intermix (WUIM) and wildland-urban interface (WUIF) in Colorado. We construct fire indices accounting for the nonlinear impact of wildfires, and evaluate the effects of different fire attributes-proximity, frequency, and scale-on property values in a hedonic price framework using housing transactions data and wildfire data in Colorado from 2000 to 2016. We find a substantial difference in the impact of wildfires on property values between WUIM and WUIF. Specifically, larger fires depreciate property values in WUIM, but increase property values in WUIF. In addition, we find that small fires lead to a negative impact on property values in both WUIM and WUIF, which is comparable with larger fires. Our findings provide policymakers novel information in making more efficient wildfire management plans.

The paradox of airbnb, crime and house prices: A reconciliation

While in many housing studies, Airbnb is evidenced to be a demand driver that leads to a positive effect on property rents and prices, it is also argued that such tourist accommodation in a neighbourhood causes an increase in criminal activities that weigh on its property values. How can we reconcile such contradictory arguments? This research note aims to use a difference-in-differences model to empirically disentangle the moderating effect of Airbnb on the relationship between crime and house prices. Using the housing transaction data in the two census years of the Auckland Region, New Zealand, we demonstrate that the impact of crime on house prices is contingent on the density of Airbnb. After controlling neighbourhood qualities, such as household incomes, ethnicity concentration and proportion of public housing in each census tract, the effect of crime rate on house prices is negatively moderated by the number of Airbnb listings, especially in apartment-type housing. The result can be interpreted as showing the effects of trespassing-related crime on house prices.

A world divided: refugee centers, house prices and household preferences

Abstract Using detailed housing transactions data from the Netherlands covering more than two decades, we examine the disamenity effect associated with the opening of refugee centers (RCs). We show that the opening of an RC decreases local house prices by 5.8%. The effect has become stronger in the past decade, in line with an increasing share of nationalist votes. Using micro-data on home buyers’ characteristics, we further identify households’ preferences. The results show that the willingness to pay is more negative for larger RCs and more positive for foreign-born individuals. The latter is indicative of a more positive attitude of foreign-born individuals toward refugees.

Credit Policy and Housing Market Liquidity: An Empirical Study in Beijing Based on the TVP-VAR Model

Although there is a consensus that the housing market is deeply affected by credit policies, little research is available on the impact of credit policies on housing market liquidity. Moreover, housing market liquidity is not scientifically quantified and monitored in China. To improve the government's intelligence in monitoring the fluctuation of the housing market and make more efficient policies in time, the dynamic relationship between credit policy and housing liquidity needs to be understood fully. On the basis of second-hand housing transaction data in Beijing from 2013 to 2018, this paper uses a time-varying parameter vector autoregressive model and reveals several important results. First, loosening credit policies improves the housing market liquidity, whereas credit tightening reduces the housing market liquidity. Second, both the direction and the duration of the impacts are time-varying and sensitive to the market conditions; when the housing market is downward, the effect of a loose credit policy to improve market liquidity is weak, and when the housing market is upward, market liquidity is more sensitive to monetary policy. Finally, the housing market confidence serves as an intermediary between credit policy and housing market liquidity. These results are of great significance to improve the intelligence and efficiency of the government in monitoring and regulating the housing market. Several policy recommendations are discussed to regulate the housing market and to stabilize market expectations.

Foreign Direct Investment and Housing Prices: Evidence from South Korea

This paper examines the extent to which Chinese Foreign Direct Investment affect housing prices in South Korea. To identify the effect, we build an econometric model based on the assumption that the amount of housing investments made by the Chinese correlate with the amount of FDI from China to Korea and the share of Chinese residents in a given location. By analyzing housing transaction data, we find that the Chinese FDI accounts for 15.3% of the increase in housing prices between 2011 and 2016. The positive effect of Chinese FDI is particularly pronounced in Seoul and its surroundings, as well as Daegu.