A Survey of House Price Hedonic Studies of the Impact of Environmental Externalities

Abstract

This article reviews existing studies that have used the house price hedonic technique to estimate the prices that consumers are willing to pay for environmental goods such as air quality, water quality, and distance from toxic or potentially toxic sites. We examine whether the results obtained are consistent over the studies, if the estimated prices change over time and what role changes in information play in consumers’ behavior. We also discuss what housing and neighborhood variables are included. Finally, we focus on those studies that have included more than one environmental good to see whether multiple measures yield different results.