It’s no surprise that homes in more walkable areas tend to be more expensive, but a new study from Redfin now puts numbers to the worth of walkability: An increase of one Walk Score point bumps a home’s price by an average of $3,250 or 0.9 percent.
Let’s break that down. Walk Score is Redfin’s proprietary rating system for measuring the pedestrian-friendliness of a given area. Amenities like parks, jobs, and eateries located within a five-minute walk make for a higher rating, but anything within a 30-minute walking distance is considered. Redfin then compared the prices and Walk Scores of more than a million homes sold since 2014.
All other characteristics being equal (property size, building age, etc), a home in a more pedestrian-friendly location was worth more than a home elsewhere. But the more walkable a city was in general, the more a higher walk score tended to boost price.
There also seems to be a walkability tipping point. Increasing a home’s Walk Score from 19 to 20 had a minor impact on the value of a home, but an increase from 79 to 80 was correlated with a price jump of more than $7,000. The closer a Walk Score gets to 100, the more impact a point increase has on price.
Source: Redfin
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