Lakeshore Property Values: A Guide to Public Investment in Recreation

Abstract

A study of lakeshore property values in which land and improvement values were regressed against attributes of the site and lake to determine the importance of the various characteristics in predicting property values indicates that swampy or steeply sloped banks are negatively correlated with value, whereas water quality, proximity to population centers, and the presence of many other lakes in the area are positively related to value. No significant relationships were discovered between land values and the amount of public land in the vicinity or the degree of fluctuation in the lake level. Property values approximately doubled in the ten-year period of the study. By suggesting characteristics that seem to be in greater demand, the study provides information to guide some of the decisions about where to spend the limited public budget for waterfront recreational facilities.