DO PREFERENCES FOR AMENITIES DIFFER AMONG HOME BUYERS? A HEDONIC PRICE APPROACH

Prior studies estimating the impact of amenity accessibility on residential property prices have largely treated housing as a homogenous commodity; however, there is strong evidence that differentiation in metropolitan housing submarkets matters. Using a hedonic pricing approach and controlling for spatial effects, this paper examines the preferences of house and apartment buyers regarding amenity accessibility in Brooklyn, New York, between 2008 and 2013. Amenity preferences between the two types of homebuyers are indeed different. The marginal implicit value of accessibility to cultural amenities is greater to apartment than house buyers, while the marginal implicit value of workplace amenity accessibility is greater to house than apartment buyers. The results illustrate the importance of differentiating housing submarkets when estimating these impacts. Urban policy-makers and real estate developers can use these results to inform land use planning in metropolitan areas aimed at further increasing residential property values.