But the presence of a wind farm isn't as bad for property values as it would seem, according to a new U.S.-government-funded study by the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (via New Scientist). The team looked into the sale prices of 7,500 homes in nine different states -- each home within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of 24 different wind farms. By using hedonic pricing models, as well as repeat sales and sales volume models, they were able to study how the wind farm's proximity affected home value.
Surprisingly, being near a wind farm wasn't that big of deal. Homes that had wind farms less than 1 mile (1.5 kilometers) away sold at prices comparable to those located 5 miles (8 kilometers) away. And new wind farm projects didn't tank property values either -- they remained stable even while rising towers began to dwarf rooftops and trees.
Photo credit: There goes the neighborhood… or not. (Gilles Mingasson/Getty Images)
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Tags: Scientific Discoveries, Wind
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