Real estate economics and project evaluation

Giuliano Marella, giuliano.marella@unipd.it
Valentina Antoniucci, valentina.antoniucci@unipd.it
Agostino Valier, agostino.valier@studenti.unipd.it

Research areas:

Housing market and urban density
The research addresses the relationship between the trend of the housing market and the urban structure, under both a morphological and economic perspective. The analysis of urban development is needed to predict the evolution of the housing market, to understand the urban specialization already present, and to prevent the increasing economic polarization in Italian cities.
To the present, we built an original dataset of housing prices and socio-economic data; we designed an original parameter to measure the build urban density, while traditionally it is measured as a ratio between population and urban surface. The hedonic price models have demonstrated a negative correlation between urban density and housing prices. Also, among other social features, the immigrant population has a negative correlation with housing prices too, validating the existing literature on the topic. The ongoing analysis extents the field of research to other social features and diverse urban contexts.

The price premium for energy efficiency as a key factor for urban resilience
Another research topic involves the measurement of the value that the housing market recognized for energy efficiency in both new dwelling and renovations. The empirical analysis involves several hedonic price models and spatial matrix to assess the price premium on housing asking prices. This is an original way to measure the “premium”, which is traditionally associate just to the energy cost savings in the housing units.
To the present, the results of research represent a “price premium” for the highest energy labels compering with the average housing values. The ongoing activities conduct a comparative analysis of the housing market in diverse cities of Northern Italy; the results are also refined clustering asking prices in luxury and affordable sub-segments to assess variations on the price premium.

Keywords: Housing market; urban development; real estate finance; price premium; energy efficiency