Chapter 16 Property Value Models

One of the only places where environmental quality is traded on explicit markets is real estate. There are several techniques that can be used to study the effects of environmental quality on property values and infer willingness to pay for improvements. The most commonly used method is the hedonic model. In environmental economics the hedonic model has mainly been applied to the prices of real property and to wages. It assumes that there is a schedule of prices for the differentiated product (i.e., houses) that can be estimated. An alternative set of models postulates that consumers' choices are discrete between houses rather than continuous in characteristics as in the hedonic model. Discrete choice models are applied to estimate consumer preferences. Recently a model has been developed that mixes discrete and continuous decisions and emphasizes the locational equilibrium. This chapter reviews these techniques, with an emphasis on methodological issues and recent developments. Section 2 describes the theoretical models that underlie these techniques. The theoretical hedonic model is developed first, and then the theoretical modifications that are necessary for the discrete choice models are described. The main models are developed for residential properties, but differentiated factors of production are discussed briefly. Section 3 is devoted to the empirical issues involved in estimating a hedonic price schedule. This is the most common type of estimation in property value models. Section 4 discusses the empirical application of the second stage of the hedonic model, the estimation of the underlying preferences. Section 5 covers the two types of discrete choice models that are used in environmental economics, random utility models and random bidding models. Section 6 briefly discusses the new locational equilibrium models, and the final section is devoted to conclusions and directions for further research.