The value of urban tree cover: A hedonic property price model in Ramsey and Dakota Counties, Minnesota, USA

Hedonic valuation is used to assess the value of trees as they affect home sales prices. Here the method is applied, not just at the individual parcel level, but to determine if trees on neighboring properties affect house prices. The study area included the urban/suburban county of Ramsey and the more rural county of Dakota, in Minnesota. A set of structural, neighborhood, and environmental variables was included in the model, and tree cover on the property and tree cover within a set of distances up to 1 km were included. Tree cover within 100 m and within 250 m was shown to have a positive impact on home prices (a 10% increase in cover within 100 m increased home values by 0.5%). Within these distances, tree cover increased values up to 40-60% cover, after which additional tree cover had an inverse effect.