Historic Districts and Land Values

Abstract

We measure the net effect of historic districting on the value of federally certified historic sites. The impact could be either positive or negative depending on the tension between positive externality effects and the constraints on property rights. Since federally certified historic parcels are not severely encumbered by regulations, we expect positive externality effects to dominate any negative effects of constraining rights. We find that the net effect of historic districting on land values is significantly positive. We also find that while residential parcels within historic districts attract a huge price premium of 131%, the premium associated with nonresidential parcels within historic districts is statistically insignificant.

Identifiers

DOI

10.1080/10835547.1991.12090632

Citations and references