Graduation Year

2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Geography, Environment and Planning

Major Professor

Steven Reader, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Joni Downs, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Ruiliang Pu, Ph.D.

Keywords

BRT, GIS, Hedonic Price Model, Real Estate Market

Abstract

Since literature that evaluates the impacts that Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has on surrounding property values is limited, this research contributes to this research by investigating if proximity to a BRT station has an effect, either positive or negative, on residential housing values. Further, it investigates if the nature and extent of this effect varied during different stages of implementation of the BRT system and different housing market conditions. Fluctuations in sale prices were mitigated based on a six month moving median. Four hedonic price models were then used to evaluate the influence of independent variables on the dependent variable, adjusted sales price. Results indicated that properties that were in an area between 0.4 and 0.8 mile (network distance) away from a BRT station, possessed about a $5,000 premium in sales price during the bust and initial recovery of the real estate market that occurred between 2009 and 2013. Additional results also indicated that in areas where the percentage of households without access to a vehicle increased, sales prices on residential properties also increased. This study did not employ the use of spatial models and concludes that such models should be used in future research to account for spatial autocorrelation. Further, this research suggests that additional geographic variables should be used to evaluate how residents value accessibility to other transportation systems when compared to BRT.

Included in

Geography Commons

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