Sea level rise is a consequence of climate change. Using evidence from a coastal community, we pose a question: Do people factor in warnings by scientists and governments about sea level rise when making their investment decisions? Using a difference-in-differences framework, we examine if disclosure of future risks affects coastal property prices. New Zealand’s Kapiti Coast published detailed projections of coastal erosion in 2012 and was forced to remove them by the courts in 2014. Results indicate posting of this information had an insignificant impact on prices, suggesting people do not factor in long-term risks of sea level rise, as future risks are not capitalized in prices. (JEL Q54, R38)

Purpose: This paper aims to determine if proximity to cell phone towers influences house prices with a focus on isolating the impact of tower aesthetics on nearby property values.Design/methodology/approach: Sales transaction data from the Auckland Region during 2005‐2007 were analysed using a series of hedonic models testing various proximity specifications across two populations of cell towers: residential‐only and global (all towers).Findings: The study could not establish a relationship between cell towers and house prices with the exception of armed monopole towers located in residential areas due to such towers' acute visual disamenity.Practical implications: The study's findings can be directly applied to residential valuation practice and can assist government regulators and telecommunication companies in siting new cell towers.Originality/value: This research provides three distinct methodological improvements: unconventional geocoding that improves spatial accuracy, separate analysis of towers in residential areas that enhances internal validity and inclusion of tower mast data to isolate the impact of tower aesthetics.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore and quantify the impact of geographically defined school zones on house prices in New Zealand.Design/methodology/approach: This paper develops a series of hedonic pricing models to analyse 10,000 house sales transactions over a 21‐year period within a compact group of inner Auckland suburbs, which represents the epicentre of the school zoning debate in New Zealand. The study diverts from past research, which mainly focuses on school quality measures such as standardised test scores, and instead analyses the comprehensive price impacts of access to popular state schools. Its unique approach employs a geographic information system to divide the study area into effective school zones and then further subdivide into suburbs, thus offering a vital indicator of internal validity.Findings: The study's findings indicate that the influence of school zoning on house prices is not uniform and the variation in price effects is largely a function of the uncertainty of future zone boundary definitions. Although some “in‐zone” suburbs have enjoyed accelerated house price growth following the reintroduction of zoning in 2000, peripheral suburbs’ price premiums have diminished.Originality/value: In contrast to standard hedonic studies on school quality, this paper offers an innovative approach that integrates geography to solve what is essentially a spatial economic problem.

Purpose: Numerical superstition is well-known in Asian countries and can influence decision-making in many markets, from financial investment to purchasing a house. This study aims to determine the house price effects of superstition and understand if these have changed over time. Design/methodology/approach: Using sales transactions of freestanding houses in Auckland, New Zealand, the authors use hedonic price analysis to investigate whether superstitious beliefs associated with lucky and unlucky house numbers affect property values. Findings: The analysis reveals ethnic Chinese buyers in Auckland displayed superstitious home buying behaviour in the period 2003-2006 by attributing value to homes with street addresses starting or ending with the lucky number eight. However, this willing to pay higher prices for lucky numbers was not reflected in the analysis of 2011-2015 sales transactions. The disappearance of superstition price effects may indicate that ethnic Chinese in the Auckland housing market have, over time, assimilated New Zealand’s Western culture and have become less superstitious. Originality/value: Unlike previous studies, the authors parse buyers into two populations of homebuyers, ethnic Chinese and non-Chinese purchasers, and model the two groups’ housing transactions independently to more accurately establish if numerical superstition influences house prices.

Purpose: This paper aims to evaluate the impact of submarkets on water view premiums of residential properties and investigate the correlation between submarket view premium and socio‐economic status.Design/methodology/approach: Over 53,000 residential sales transactions from 2004 to 2006 are analysed using the hedonic method. The Auckland region is divided into 17 submarkets with similar water view scarcities. The region is analysed along with each individual submarket in order to determine if significant differences in view premiums exist.Findings: The empirical results indicate that the regionwide model chronically over‐ or under‐estimates view premiums, for example, the regionwide model estimates that a wide water view adds 18 per cent to a home's value while the same view amenity adds only 5 per cent in modest West Harbour but 54 per cent in posh Mission Bay.Practical implications: The study's findings can be directly applied to residential valuation practice and in particular mass appraisal systems.Originality/value: This research fills a gap in the body of knowledge relating to water view externalities by investigating the differing price impacts across submarkets.