Property prices and urban forest amenities

Quantitative information on residents' valuations attached to urban forests is needed for assessing urban land-use. The aim of this study is to value implicitly non-priced urban forest amenities by comparing dwelling prices and specific amounts of amenities associated with dwelling units. The empirical study is based on data from the sales of terraced houses in the district of Sale in Finland. According to the estimation results a one kilometer increase in the distance to the nearest forested area leads to an average 5.9 percent decrease in the market price of the dwelling. Dwellings with a view onto forests are on average 4.9 percent more expensive than dwellings with otherwise similar characteristics. (C) 2000 Academic Press.