Forest proximity and residential land values

This study estimates a hedonic price equation for residential lands in some mountain counties of Colorado. Results suggest that peracre price of land in a town is positively influenced by the town’s proximity to ski resort and is negatively influenced by its proximity to forest. However, there is a positive fixed effect of having a protected forest such as a national park or wildlife refuge nearby, and the negative effect of proximity of forest is much lower with protected forests. Results suggest that increasingly bigger parcels of land command progressively lower per-acre prices.