Amenity, accessibility and housing values in metropolitan USA: A study of Salt Lake County, Utah

Negative amenities, such as air pollutions, have plagued many rapidly growing cities. However, researchers have not comprehensively examined their effects on housing values and on the local economy. These effects may be spatially auto-correlated with accessibility factors, differ in how they are dispersed over space and time, and have sizable localized effects. In this study, we use the assessed property value data and hedonic pricing models to examine consumers' underlying preferences for various amenities and accessibility factors in Salt Lake County, with a particular focus on air pollutions and forest coverage. Three models are used to address the problem of special and temporal heterogeneity. Results from ordinary least squares (OLS) regression show that single-family home values are affected not only by structural attributes, but also by urban amenities and accessibility factors such as air pollution, forest coverage, quality of public schools, and commuting cost. After controlling the covariates in spatial lag regression (SLR), we find that air pollutions and the lack of forest coverage have a significant and detrimental effect on housing values over time. Finally, results from geographically weighted regression (GWR) indicate that spatial heterogeneity is evident and that the forest coverage has more positive influences in the east side of Salt Lake County, while the negative effect of air pollutions is less pronounced on housing values in the southeast. However, air pollutions and forest cover matter irrespective of the method used.