Combined impacts of highways and light rail transit on residential property values: a spatial hedonic price model for Phoenix, Arizona

This study analyzes the positive and negative relationships between housing prices and proximity to light rail and highways in Phoenix, Arizona. We hypothesize that the accessibility benefits of light rail transit (LRT) and highways accrue at nodes (stations and highway exits specifically), while disamenities emanate from rail and highway links as well as from nodes. Distance decay of amenities and disamenities is captured using multiple distance bands, and hypotheses are tested using a spatial hedonic model using generalized spatial two-stage least-squares estimation. Results show that proximity to transport nodes was associated significantly and positively with single-family detached home values. As a function of distance from highway exits and LRT stations, the distance-band coefficients form an inverted-U pattern consistent with a positive longer-range distance-decay accessibility effect minus a smaller and shorter-range distance-decay disamenity effect. The positive accessibility effect for highway exits extends farther than for LRT stations. Coefficients for the distance from highway and LRT links, however, were not significant. We also test the effect of highway design on home values and find that below-grade highways have relatively positive impacts on nearby houses compared to those at ground level or above.