A Sight for Sore Eyes: Assessing the Value of View and Landscape Use on the Housing Market

21 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2007 Last revised: 22 May 2015

See all articles by Andrea Baranzini

Andrea Baranzini

University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland - Geneva School of Business Administration

Caroline Schaerer

Geneva School of Business Administration

Date Written: April 1, 2007

Abstract

We apply the hedonic model to the Geneva-Switzerland rental market, in order to assess the value of view and landscape use. In that purpose, we construct a large database of about 10 500 observations containing dwellings structural characteristics and combine it with environmental variables on noise and local air pollution exposure. Then, we make use of the Geneva geographic information system (GIS), in order to define landscape uses and patterns in the neighbourhood of the buildings. Finally, we define several variables in order to quantify the view at the dwelling level. We find that accessibility to various environmental amenities, landscape use and size, as well as view on them have a statistically significant impact on rents. In particular, the size and the view on the natural environment increase rents, while they lower rents in the case of the built environment. We also find that diversity in landscape uses in the building neighbourhood has a negative impact on rents, while possessing a diverse view from the dwelling increases rents.

Keywords: Hedonic model, rental market, housing market, view, landscape use, Geographic Information System (GIS)

JEL Classification: R14, R52, D62, R31

Suggested Citation

Baranzini, Andrea and Schaerer, Caroline, A Sight for Sore Eyes: Assessing the Value of View and Landscape Use on the Housing Market (April 1, 2007). Journal of Housing Economics, Vol. 20, No. 3, 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=981189 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.981189

Andrea Baranzini (Contact Author)

University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland - Geneva School of Business Administration ( email )

CH-1227 Geneva
Switzerland
+41-22-388 1718 (Phone)
+41-22-388 1701 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://campus.hesge.ch/baranzia/

Caroline Schaerer

Geneva School of Business Administration ( email )

CH-1227 Geneva
Switzerland

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