Overview
The presence of a natural gas pipeline does not affect the value of the surrounding property. Integra Realty Resources, a leading provider of real estate valuation and counseling services, conducted a rigorous study of properties in four separate areas of the country in 2015. The report, Pipeline Impact to Property Value and Property Insurability, prepared on behalf of the 91国产 Foundation, shows that the presence of pipelines does not affect the value of a property, its insurability, its desirability or the ability to obtain a mortgage.
- There is no measurable impact on the sales price聽of properties located along or in proximity to a聽natural gas pipeline versus properties which are聽not located along or in proximity to the same聽pipeline.
- Neither the size nor the age of a natural gas聽pipeline affects a property鈥檚 sale price.
- There is no impact on demand for properties聽located along natural gas pipeline easements聽nor is development in areas with natural gas聽pipelines hindered.
- Natural gas pipelines do not affect the property聽value of any particular type of residence any聽more or less than another type of residence.
- The sales frequency of homes 鈥渙n鈥� the pipeline聽is consistent with those 鈥渙ff鈥� the pipeline,聽indicating that the presence of a pipeline does聽not inhibit sales.
- Buyers purchasing homes along pipeline聽easements in each area were able to obtain聽conventional, Federal Housing Administration聽(FHA), and Veterans Affairs (VA) loans. This indicates that the presence of a natural gas聽pipeline had no effect on obtaining a mortgage.
- Insurance companies and agents interviewed said聽there was no indication that the presence of a聽natural gas pipeline would hinder a buyer鈥檚 ability聽to acquire property insurance. They also said聽there was no indication that premiums paid for聽insurance policies would increase because of the聽proximity of a natural gas pipeline.
- Based upon the geographically disparate areas聽studied, IRR concluded that it was highly likely聽that the results and conclusions of this report聽would apply to other markets across the country聽in which natural gas pipelines were located.
Methodology
IRR analyzed data from multiple perspectives to evaluate how the construction and operation of an underground, interstate natural gas pipeline affected home values. Analyses utilized paired sales, descriptive statistics and linear regressions. IRR selected geographically diverse areas 鈥� the Midwest, Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast 鈥� for the case studies. IRR鈥檚 comparative analysis consisted of two steps. First, the sales price of each home or townhome was adjusted based on size, because the living area of each home or townhome has the greatest effect on sales price. Second, IRR compared the adjusted prices paid for residences located along the natural gas pipeline to the adjusted prices paid for residences located away from the pipeline.
