TY  - JOUR
AU  - Banzhaf,H. Spencer
AU  - Farooque,Omar
TI  - Interjurisdictional Housing Prices and Spatial Amenities:  Which Measures of Housing Prices Reflect Local Public Goods?
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 17809
PY  - 2012
Y2  - February 2012
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w17809
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w17809.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
H. Spencer Banzhaf
Department of Economics
Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
Georgia State University
P.O. Box 3992
Atlanta, GA 30302
Tel: 404/413-0252
Fax: 404/413-0248
E-Mail: hsbanzhaf@gsu.edu

Omar Farooque
Department of Economics
302 Arthur Andersen Hall
2001 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-2600
E-Mail: omarfarooque2015@u.northwestern.edu
AB  - Understanding the spatial variation in housing prices plays a crucial role in topics ranging from the cost of living to quality-of-life indices to studies of public goods and household mobility.  Yet analysts have not reached a consensus on the best source of such data, variously using self-reported values from the census, transactions values, tax assessments, and rental values.  Additionally, while most studies use micro-level data, some have used summary statistics such as the median housing value.

Assessing neighborhood price indices in Los Angeles, we find that indices based on transactions prices are highly correlated with indices based on self-reported values, but the former are better correlated with public goods.  Moreover, rental values have a higher correlation with public goods and income levels than either asset-value measure.  Finally, indices based on median values are poorly correlated with the other indices, public goods, and income.
ER  -