The ebb and flow of gas prices just may move the value of your home as well.
According to a new study, higher prices mean lower prices for homes in the suburbs. And while the idea may not be shocking — not if you consider cost of commuting long distances during a time of soaring gas prices — the study says that there is an impact you can measure.
The Brookings Institution says that for every 10 percent hike in the price of gasoline, the average house price outside the city slides $7,800, while the average price in the heart of a city climbs $5,600.
A caveat or two: The findings are based on a long and deep study – 34 years worth and more than 930,000 home sales – but that research included properties in just one county, that of Clark County, Nevada.
Clark County includes Las Vegas, one of the metro areas with the bubbliest of bubbles in real estate leading up to the recession of 2007-09. Whether that makes it a good point of comparison to Atlanta – another example of the massive surge in housing – Brookings did not say.
Brookings does cite other studies that show relationships between gas prices and other prices – like those of used cars.
But in any event, noted the demographer Cheryl Russell on her blog, Demo Memo, what has one effect going up can have the opposite effect coming down.
And down gas prices have come: there has been a roughly 30 percent drop in Atlanta since spring.
That decline could be good news for suburban real estate, at least if it lasts for a while, Russell wrote. “With gas prices falling to a low not seen in years, homeowners in the suburbs may benefit, able to sell their houses for more because buyers will be less averse to a lengthy commute.”
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