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Do residential property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing programs affect local house price growth?

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  • Millar, Melanie I.
  • White, Roger M.

Abstract

The objective of residential Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs is to increase environmentally friendly home renovations, like solar panel installations, for private residences by making financing more readily available. Local governments use municipal bond proceeds to finance PACE loans that are secured via a property tax lien on the affected residence and repaid through temporarily higher property taxes. Critics allege that these programs can stymy housing markets through lien-related risks that discourage buyers and lenders. Using data from Florida, we find support for these claims. Our analysis suggests that PACE program rollouts predict fewer home sales and weaker house price appreciation. We investigate the channel for these results and observe that mortgage lenders are less likely to approve loan applications in areas after local PACE programs are introduced. This even occurs for homes without PACE liens, which discourages housing market liquidity and drives down housing market returns. Our results emphasize the need for thoughtful policy design and implementation to avoid unintended, negative consequences of well-intentioned sustainability programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Millar, Melanie I. & White, Roger M., 2024. "Do residential property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing programs affect local house price growth?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:124:y:2024:i:c:s009506962400010x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2024.102936
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Taxes; Housing appreciation; Sustainability; Lending; Property assessed clean energy; PACE;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth

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