Impacts of Property Accessibility and Neighborhood Built Environment on Single-Unit and Multiunit Residential Property Values

Abstract

Recent consumer surveys and empirical studies suggest linkages between property accessibility, neighborhood built environment, and residential property values. This paper describes a comprehensive study that was undertaken to understand the impacts of property accessibility, neighborhood built environment, and other contributing factors on single-unit and multiunit residential property values. The study used a sample of more than 4,500 single-unit and 2,300 multiunit residential properties collected in more than 1,800 neighborhoods of Adelaide, Australia. Hedonic house price models were applied to study the similarities and dissimilarities of the impacts of types of property accessibility (property accessibility to retail locations and to social and recreational locations by walking, public transit, and automobile), neighborhood built environment (land use mix, residential density, and intersection density), and other contributing factors (physical attributes of the property, social and economic characteristics of the neighborhood, and public school district quality) on single-unit and multiunit residential property values. The model results suggest that planners should consider land use mix, new social and recreational locations, intersection density, and public transit locations in designing and implementing neighborhood development strategies. The results also indicate that investors should consider the following in developing property investment strategies: the property’s physical condition, its proximity to retail, social, and recreational locations, school district quality, neighborhood development intensity, and residents’ preferred residential property features. Further, the impacts of various contributing factors on single-unit and multiunit residential property values can be used to aid planners in neighborhood design and to assist investors in making more informed residential property investment decisions.