Environmental Hazards Don’t Quell Price Hikes

Home prices in ZIP codes with the highest environmental hazard risk are appreciating at a faster pace than the overall housing market in the past year and over the last decade, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ 2017 Environmental Hazards Housing Risk Index.

EPA Definitions Used in the Study

Poor air quality: Calculated by the average percentage of days without significant traces of carbon monoxide, fine particles, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, or sulfur dioxide in the air.

Superfunds on national priorities list: The list of national priorities regarding releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminates.

Brownfield site: This term applies to real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse that can be complicated by the presence or potential threat of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.

Polluters: Toxic releases are restricted to industries that manufacture or process more than 25,000 pounds of a Toxic Release Inventory-listed chemical or otherwise uses more than 10,000 pounds of a listed chemical in a given year.

Researchers analyzed more than 8,600 ZIP codes in the U.S. looking for four environmental risks: Superfund sites, brownfields, polluters, and poor air quality. They found that median home prices in ZIP codes in the top environmental hazard risk category rose 7.4 percent from a year ago on average, compared to a 7.1 percent increase nationwide. From 2007, these high-risk areas have seen prices increase 22.2 percent from a decade ago compared to a 12.3 percent increase nationwide.

“With housing inventory in short supply, even homes in higher-risk ZIP codes for environmental hazards are in high demand from buyers looking for lower-priced properties and investors looking for the next up-and-coming neighborhood,” says Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions. “Buyer demand does seem to have a bit of a limit when it comes to environmental hazards, however. Homes in ZIP codes with Superfund sites on the EPA’s national priority list have seen weaker home price appreciation and have higher foreclosure rates than the overall housing market.”