Study finds that property values are not influenced by proximity to wind energy facilities

BERKELEY, CALIF — A study investigating community concerns about wind energy found that proximity to wind energy facilities does not have a pervasive or widespread adverse effect on the property values of nearby homes. The new report which was funded by the Department of Energy, is based on site visits, data collection, and analysis of almost 7,500 single-family home sales, making it the most comprehensive and data-rich analysis to date on the potential impact of wind projects on residential property values.

The team of researchers collected data on homes situated within 10 miles of 24 existing wind facilities in nine different U.S. states; the closest home being 800 feet from a wind facility. Each home in the sample was visited to collect important on-site information such as whether wind turbines were visible from the home. The home sales used in the study occurred between 1996 and 2007, spanning the period prior to the announcement of each wind energy facility to well after its construction and full-scale operation.

According to the report’s author, “neither the view of wind energy facilities nor the distance of the home to those facilities was found to have any consistent, measurable, and significant effect on the selling prices of nearby homes.”

The conclusions of the study are drawn from eight different hedonic pricing models, as well as repeat sales and sales volume models. A hedonic model is a statistical analysis method used to estimate the impact of house characteristics on sales prices. None of the models uncovered conclusive statistical evidence of the existence of any widespread property value effects that might be present in communities surrounding wind energy facilities.

For more on this study, download this report titled, “The Impact of Wind Power Projects on Residential Property Values in the United States: A Multi-Site Hedonic Analysis”