Surface street traffic volume and single-family house price

This study investigates the relationship between surface street traffic volume and single-family house prices in a relatively small city in the US. Hedonic price models are estimated using data from 9670 transactions that occurred between January 1998 and March 2011. It is discovered that parcels fronting or adjacent to a high-traffic street sell, on average, at an 8.1% discount compared to similar parcels that are not so situated. Restricting the analysis to parcels on or adjacent to a high-traffic street, house price and traffic volume are found to be negatively related; a doubling of volume from any particular traffic count, ceteris paribus, reduces selling price by an average of 2.1%.

► We analyze data from 9670 transactions that occurred between 1998 and 2011 in Kettering, Ohio.
► We find the traffic volume is capitalized into single-family house prices.
► Houses on high-traffic streets found to sell for 8.1% less on average than houses on low-traffic streets.
► House prices on high-traffic streets falls by 2.1% each time traffic count doubles.