Location , Regional Accessibility and Price Effects : Evidence 2 from Twin Cities Home Sales

1 Regional location factors, with measures of regional accessibility foremost among them, 2 exert a strong influence on urban property markets. While accessibility represents an important 3 regional-scale factor, more local influences such as proximity to urban highway links may 4 also positively or negatively influence the desirability of a location. In this paper, we use a 5 cross-section of home sales in Hennepin County, Minnesota from the years 2001 through 2004, 6 along with a set of disaggregate regional accessibility measures, to estimate the value of access 7 to employment and resident workers. We also estimate the (dis)amenity effects of locations 8 near major freeway links that have recently undergone, or were scheduled to undergo (as of the 9 time period covered by the home sales), major construction to add capacity. The richness of the 10 home sales data set allows us to control for a number of structural attributes, as well as some 11 site characteristics, while additional neighborhood characteristics (such as income levels and 12 local educational quality) are added from supplemental data sources. Empirical results indicate 13 that households highly value employment access, while access to other resident workers (i.e. 14 competition for jobs) is considered a disamenity. Proximity to local highway access points is 15 positively associated with sale price, while proximity to the highway link itself is negatively 16 associated with price. The paper concludes with some implications for research and practice of 17 the concept and measurement of the relationship between location and land value. 18