How the environment affects the residential property values?

Abstract

The growth of the World?s population has been followed by the reinforcement of the population living in urban areas, which very often results in additional stress over space, ecosystems, infrastructures, facilities and the way of life. Domestic and industrial sources, and mainly motorized traffic are responsible for pollutant emissions and noise which decisively affects the living in today?s cities. Besides the impact caused to the quality of life of the urban citizens and public health, the urban noise and the air pollution contribute negatively to the values of the properties that, due to the location, are more affected by this kind of urban pollution. How we can assess the environmental impacts on residential property values? High noise levels and fair air quality is negatively correlated with health issues risk and housing price. Saying so, it is expectable the establishment of a correlation between the noise and the air pollution and the market value of the residential property. The main objective of this paper is to reflect on the implications of urban environmental quality on people's quality of life and consequently on the quality of places. This theoretical discussion, based on applied case studies, aims to contribute to a better understanding of an important question: How much is a family willing to spend on the various environmental attributes of a residential property?