More evidence of the beneficial impacts of transit-oriented development has arrived in the form of a new property values study by the American Public Transportation Association, the Center for Neighborhood Technology and the National Association of Realtors.  

(See also our blog post regarding the EPA report released last month promoting funding mechanisms and other strategies for communities to provide more transit-oriented development.)  

The study found that homes closer to public transit performed 42 percent better (in terms of resilience of property values)  than those further away.  This finding was based on an analysis of home values in San Francisco, Phoenix, Boston, Chicago, and Minneapolis-St Paul between 2006 and 2011.  

Price resilience was highest for properties near transit stations with the most connections and most frequent service.  Interestingly, housing type (apartment, single-family, townhouse etc) had no impact on the study, with the results holding true across all property types.  Residents in a “transit shed” (within a half a mile of selected transit) also had “better access to jobs and lower average transportation costs” than the study area as a whole.  

The full text of the report is available on the American Public Transportation Association website.