The Price of Beauty: Biodiversity Effects on Residential Housing Markets
Michael Koetter, Birte Winter, Fabian Woebbeking
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 21,
2025
Abstract
We study how and why local biodiversity affects residential property values. Leveraging remotely sensed greenness indicators and a novel dataset of granular property listings, we examine how changes in vegetation load on real estate prices. Hikes in greenness are associated with higher listing prices, fewer properties listed, and reduced liquidity in housing markets. These results suggest that price hikes in housing markets are driven by supply-side constraints instead of a “greenium” that buyers might be willing to pay due to innate preferences. Exogenous zoning shocks to foster biodiversity corroborate the presence of supply side constraints as price drivers in residential housing markets. Our findings emphasize the need to calibrate biodiversity and (social) housing policy objectives more explicitly.
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What’s the Melting Pot Worth? Multiculturalism and House Prices
Rachel Cho, Hisham Farag, Christoph Görtz, Danny McGowan, Huyen Nguyen, Max Schröder
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 11,
2025
Abstract
Is there a multicultural neighborhood price premium? We exploit plausibly exogenous variation in British colonization patterns in Northern Ireland during the early 1600s which created neighborhoods of varying religious composition that persists until today. These religious groups are culturally distinct, but are observationally equivalent ethnically and socioeconomically. A standard deviation increase neighborhood-level multiculturalism raises house prices by 9.6%. Multiculturalism raises property prices by increasing asset liquidity and housing demand as a wider spectrum of society demand houses in these areas. The findings and mechanism contrast sharply with prior evidence showing negative relationships due to homophily, social networks, and identification challenges.
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Research Data Centre
Research Data Centre (IWH-RDC) Direct link to our Data Offer The IWH Research Data Centre offers external researchers access to microdata and micro-aggregated data sets that…
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Research Clusters
Three Research Clusters Each IWH research group is assigned to a topic-oriented research cluster. The clusters are not separate organisational units, but rather bundle the…
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Department Profiles
Research Profiles of the IWH Departments All doctoral students are allocated to one of the four research departments (Financial Markets – Laws, Regulations and Factor Markets –…
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Past Events
Past Events 14. CompNet Annual Conference (Vilnius, 25-26 September 2025) The 14th CompNet Annual Conference, co-hosted with the Bank of Lithuania, took place on 25–26 September…
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1st FINPRO - Finance and Productivity Conference
1st FINPRO - Finance and Productivity Conference The Great Financial Crisis of 2007/2008 still casts a shadow on many developed economies in terms of real outcomes, such as…
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IWH European Real Estate Index
IWH European Real Estate Index (EREI) The IWH European Real Estate Index is a new dataset that illustrates developments in the European real estate market. Besides quoted…
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IWH Construction Survey
IWH Construction Survey From 1993 until the first quarter of 2017, the IWH conducted regular surveys among companies. The results of these surveys could be used to promptly…
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IWH Industry Survey
IWH Industry Survey From 1993 until the first quarter of 2017, the IWH conducted regular surveys among companies. The results of these surveys could be used to promptly describe…
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