What makes a locality attractive?

Estimates of the amenity value of parks for Victoria

In this technical paper, we examine the effects of 6 different kinds of parks on house prices in Victoria.

This study provides estimates of how distances to parks and other amenities affect house prices in Australia. It is the first study to look at the effects on prices in both Melbourne and regional Victoria.

The results of this study can help estimate the amenity value of a park for a quick cost benefit analysis of transport projects.

Key findings

• Moving from the median to the first percentile of distances from a park increases property prices by up to $86,000.
• Parks are more likely to have a positive effect on house prices in regional Victoria than in Melbourne. We hypothesise this is because some types of metropolitan parks may be linked with congestion or other negative outcomes.