Factors affecting land value in an Indian city

Land valuation is the process of determining the value of the landed property, excluding all human-made improvements. This paper presents a comprehensive assessment and modelling of the land value and its determinants. Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala state, is selected as the study area. Land value modelling applied in this study is divided into three stages. The first stage uses a standard hedonic price model for land value estimation and spatial autocorrelation diagnostics. The spatial error model is appropriate for variable selection and modelling based on Moran’s I and Lagrange Multiplier test statistics in the second stage. The last stage of the study uses the spatial error model for land value analysis, and the results are compared with OLS regression. Proximity to major highways, disaster history, concentration of commercial establishments, and permissible FAR are the major factors affecting land value in the study area. Few other parameters like water frontage and noise pollution have a reverse relationship with similar studies in developed countries. The results indicate that factors influencing land value in Indian cities are different from the European and American cities. The study provides critical insights into the land price variation of an Indian city at a micro-level..