Wind Farms Do Not Reduce Property Prices?

With President Obama calling for a doubling of renewable energy by 2012, a recently published Berkeley Lab study funded by the U.S. Department of Energy is likely music to the wind energy industry’s ears.

The study reports that wind farms do not have any significant negative effect on property values. This reportedly is the most comprehensive study ever on the impact of U.S. wind projects on residential property values. Data included sales of 7,500 single family homes, occurring between 1996 and 2007, in nine different states.

The report says ‘Neither the view of wind energy facilities nor the distance of the home to those facilities was found to have any consistent, measurable and significant effect on the selling prices of nearby homes’.

‘No matter how we looked at the data, the same result kept coming back. There is no evidence of widespread impacts,’ said Mark Thayer, co-author and chairman of the economics department at San Diego State University.

While other studies have shown that nearby conventional power plants or high voltage transmission lines can adversely affect property sale prices. Thayer said ‘The same cannot be said for wind energy facilities’.

Wind energy will reportedly have multiple benefits including the creation of jobs, reduction of greenhouse gases, and direct economic benefits to rural communities.

The wind farms, with numerous towers often hundreds of feet tall, have stirred debate as to whether they depreciate property values.

Additional research reveals an earlier study by Peter Dent and Dr Sally Sims of the Department of Real Estate and Construction, Oxford Brookes University, UK. Reportedly, adverse affects are most noticeable for terraced and semi-detached houses, with significant impact on properties located within a mile of a wind farm. Detached properties did not appear to be as susceptible.

Furthermore, the Oxford Brooks study reported that the ‘threat’ of a wind farm may have a greater impact that the actual existence of a wind farm. And, this may not translate into lower home prices if the community is involved and enjoys some of the resulting benefits.

After all the debate, time and experience here in the U.S. will ultimately discern the net cost to the nearby homeowners vs. overall benefit to the community.

Brian Kinkade is a broker and team lead with Cherry Creek Professionals Realty, a full service Denver real estate firm. His team specializes in Denver luxury homes, equine properties and International sales. Brian invites you to visit his website for more information.

Tagged as: Home Prices, Property Values, Renewable Energy, Wind Farms