New Study Shows Impact of Wind Farms on Home Values

If you practice real estate near a wind farm, you should know:

With the increasing methods of alternative energy American cities are seeking out and implementing, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory set out to study whether or not wind power facilities impact sales prices of homes.

Communities frequently worry about wind power facilities due to the large size, view obstructions and noise levels, but the Berkeley Lab released a report this week stating that “proximity to wind energy facilities does not have a pervasive or widespread adverse effect on the property values of nearby homes.” The research reviewed homes within 20 miles of 24 wind facilities across the country versus home sales between 1996 to 2007 in which time facilities were announced, constructed, completed and now operate.

Berkeley Lab consultant Ben Hoen said, “neither the view of wind energy facilities nor the distance of the home to those facilities was found to have any consistent, measurable, and significant effect on the selling prices of nearby homes. No matter how we looked at the data, the same result kept coming back – no evidence of widespread impacts.”

Although I’m not personally around a wind power facility (and haven’t seen one fully constructed in person yet), I find this quite surprising because of how insanely massive the individual pieces are, let alone an entire wind farm! Why do you think the data continually shows that facilities don’t impact sales prices despite noise and views?