Here’s A Shocker – Homes Near Transit Worth More

For years, we’ve been talking about life and neighborhoods along the Phoenix light rail line. While transit lovers know that we still have a LOT of room for improving, the popularity of homes near the light rail line seems to be reaching larger audiences each year.

While location, location, location has always been important in the real estate industry, the other L word we hear a lot about around here is lifestyle. We often talk to people who love the convenience of living near transit. It might be the ability to get to work, to school, to entertainment or a combination of all three. For some, it’s living greener, for others, it’s simply saving some cash and ditching the car.

Recently, the National Association of REALTORS and the American Public Transportation Association released information from a study they did that found homes near public transit are worth more than similar properties that do not have nearby access to subways, rail lines, or buses.

Good news for @RailLife ! Study: Homes Near Public Transit Worth More http://t.co/FCD2toLDi1

— Arizona REALTORS® (@AARSuccess) September 24, 2013

While we weren’t completely surprised to read the results of the study, we did find some interesting stats and data and enjoyed making comparisons to what we see around here every day.

We found some interesting quotes from the article titled “Public transportation affects home values.” It sounds like many cities have larger demand within the sweet spot of homes within about 1/2 mile of a light rail station. This is certainly what we have found around here, as well.

“When consumers choose a home, they also choose a lifestyle. Shorter commutes and more walkable neighborhoods matter to a growing number of people, especially those living in congested metro areas.”

– Lawrence Yun, chief economist, National Association of REALTORS

While the study had a national look at property values and found some markets to be up to 41% higher near transit, when Phoenix was mentioned, they simply said that our properties “tend to hold their value better than those that are farther away.”

Something we’ve noticed about homes along our light rail line is the fact that there really isn’t enough of it. Yes, there seems to be several property types and many properties for sale, there just normally isn’t a lot for people to choose from in certain areas and price points along the line. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a trend towards “luxury rentals” and we are hearing that more rental projects are in the works. You know what we’d like to see? Some quality infill projects where people can buy a nice new home along the line.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE some of the older and historic homes that we have, but we see a huge desire for people looking to buy something that just doesn’t exist in the market today. While the rental market along the line is and has been strong since the beginning, the need for residential TOD products is certainly strong in the Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa light rail corridors.

The list below shows all of the single family homes within ( approximately ) 1/2 mile from light rail stations. Go ahead and take a look!