House Prices, Airport Location Proximity, Air Traffic Volume and the Covid-19 Effect

Although house prices and airports are influenced by distinct factors that shape their evolutions, they are also intrinsically connected through the natural and built environment. Standard theory suggests that air-traffic noise and proximity to key economic hubs such as airports are of prime importance to house prices and the housing market. This study contributes to understanding the link between the housing market, airport location proximity, and air traffic. The research investigates this association across four key urban areas within New Zealand proximal to an international airport - Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Queenstown. Applying a Generalised Least Squares (GLS) regression approach, the analysis reveals that house prices, air-traffic activity, and proximity to airports within New Zealand demonstrate a statistically significant effect, and demonstrate that air traffic volume has a positive effect on house prices. Moreover, the findings reveal a U-shape relationship between distance to the airport and house prices, suggesting that airport noise and pollution adversely affects house prices with this effect diminishing with distance indicating that economic influences and employment may also serve as a positive externality. Under the recent COVID-19 pandemic, we found that the record increase in the number of New Zealanders returning to the country has put more pressure on the country’s housing market and thus, positively contributed to the increasing house prices.