Meta-analysis of Airport Noise and Hedonic Property Values: Problems and Prospects

Meta-analysis is applied to the negative relationship between airport noise exposure and residential property values. The effect size in the analysis is the percent depreciation per decibel increase in airport noise, or the noise discount. Twenty hedonic property value studies are analyzed, covering 33 estimates of the noise discount for 23 airports in Canada and the United States. About one-third of the estimates have not been previously reported in the literature or were not included in previous meta-analyses. The weighted-mean noise discount is 0.58% per decibel. A meta-regression analysis examines the variability in the noise discounts that might be due to country, year, sample size, model specification, mean property value, data aggregation, or accessibility to airport employment and travel opportunities. The analysis indicates that country and model specification have some effect on the measured noise discount, but the other variables have little systematic effect. The cumulative noise discount in the U.S. is about 0.5% to 0.6% per decibel at noise exposure levels of 75 dB or less, while in Canada the discount is 0.8 % to 0.9% per decibel.