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Historic Amenities, Income and Sorting of Households

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  • Hans R. A. Koster
  • Piet Rietveld
  • Jos Van Ommeren

Abstract

We test the impact of historic amenities on house prices and sorting of households within cities. Conservation area boundaries enable us to employ a semiparametric regression-discontinuity approach to measure the impact of historic amenities. The approach allows for household-specific preferences. Conditional on neighbour attributes, the price difference at the conservation boundary is about 3 percent. Internal historic amenities are also important, as listed houses are about 6 percent more expensive. It is shown that rich households sort themselves in conservation areas and in listed buildings, because they have a higher willingness to pay for historic amenities. The results contribute to an explanation for the substantial spatial income differences within cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Hans R. A. Koster & Piet Rietveld & Jos Van Ommeren, 2013. "Historic Amenities, Income and Sorting of Households," SERC Discussion Papers 0124, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:sercdp:0124
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    historic amenities; sorting; conservation areas; semiparametric regression-discontinuity design; hedonic price method;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy

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