Working Paper: NBER ID: w29385
Authors: Jeffrey P. Cohen; Cletus C. Coughlin; Jonas Crews; Stephen L. Ross
Abstract: A busy airport’s closure has large effects on noise, real estate markets, and neighborhood demographics. Using a unique dataset, we examine the effects of closing Denver’s Stapleton Airport on nearby housing markets. We find evidence of immediate anticipatory price effects upon announcement, but no price changes at closing and little evidence of upward trending prices between announcement and closing. However, after the airport closure, more higher-income and fewer black households moved in, and developers built higher quality houses. Finally, post-closing, these demographic and housing stock changes had substantial housing price effects, even after restricting the sample to pre-existing housing sales.
Keywords: housing market; airport closure; demographics; price effects
JEL Codes: G14; R21; R31; R41
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Announcement of Stapleton Airport's closure (L93) | Immediate anticipatory price effects in housing markets (R31) |
| Noise exposure (Q53) | Decrease in housing prices (R31) |
| Airport closure (L93) | Demographic shift in neighborhoods (R23) |
| Demographic shift (J11) | Increase in housing prices (R31) |
| Airport closure (L93) | Improvements in housing stock (R21) |
| Improvements in housing stock (R21) | Increase in housing prices (R31) |
| Airport closure (L93) | No significant price changes at time of closure (D49) |