An Investigation of Property Value Impairment Caused by Noise, in the Case of the Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport, Using a Hedonic Model

Abstract

The issue of the value impairing impact of airports on nearby properties has been studied in the technical literature for decades. There is quite a wide consensus on the fact that in North America and Western Europe, the increasing noise pollution caused by airports leads to reduced property values: in general, each 1 dB growth in noise level leads to a 1% drop in property value. The purpose of this study is to find a correlation between noise levels and property value impairment (if any), based on the limited amount of available data, with regard to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD). The examination described in this paper was conducted applying the commonly-used hedonic model, and, even though this study could not prove the correlation, it designates the direction in which necessary database-building and future research should be conducted.