The Impact of Wind Power Projects on Residential Property Values ...

slightly better than average condition. 48 Within the full sample, 6% and 58% <strong>of</strong> homes had a
poor or below average VISTA rating, respectively; 26% <strong>of</strong> homes received an average rating on
this scale, with 9% above average and 2% experiencing premium vistas (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Frequency <strong>of</strong> VISTA Ratings for All and Post-Construction Transactions
All Transactions
470
4,301
1,912
659
117
PostConstruction Transactions
310
2,857
1,247
448
75
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% 55% 60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 85% 90% 95% 100%
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Premium
With respect to the variables <strong>of</strong> interest, among the post-construction subset <strong>of</strong> 4,937 transactions,
the frequency <strong>of</strong> the DISTANCE categories is found to follow geometry with the smallest
numbers <strong>of</strong> transactions occurring near the wind turbines and ever increasing numbers further
away (see Figure 3). 67 transactions (1%) are situated inside <strong>of</strong> 3,000 feet (< 0.57 Miles), 58
(1%) are between 3,000 feet and one mile (0.57-1 mile), 2,019 (41%) occur outside <strong>of</strong> one mile
but inside <strong>of</strong> three miles (1-3 miles), 1,923 (39%) occur between three and five miles (3-5 miles),
and 870 (18%) occur outside <strong>of</strong> five miles (>5 miles). 49 In this same post-construction group, a
total <strong>of</strong> 730 homes that sold (15%) have a view <strong>of</strong> the wind turbines (see Figure 4). A large
majority <strong>of</strong> those homes have MINOR view ratings (n = 561, 11% <strong>of</strong> total), with 2% having
MODERATE ratings (n=106) and the remaining transactions roughly split between
SUBSTANTIAL and EXTREME ratings (n=35, 0.6%, and n=28, 0.5%, respectively). A full
description <strong>of</strong> the variables <strong>of</strong> interest and how they are arrayed at the study area level is
contained in Appendix A.
Figure 3: Frequency <strong>of</strong> DISTANCE Ratings for Post-Construction Transactions
1 - 3 MIle
(n = 2019)
3000 Feet -
1 Mile
(n = 58)
3 - 5 Miles
(n = 1923)
> 5 Miles
(n = 870)
Other
< 3000 Feet
(n = 67)
48 <strong>The</strong> variable for the condition <strong>of</strong> the home was not uniform across study areas because, in some cases, it took into
account construction grade while in others it did not.
49 <strong>The</strong>se numbers and percentages are skewed slightly from the overall population <strong>of</strong> transactions because homes
outside <strong>of</strong> three miles were <strong>of</strong>ten under-sampled to reduce field data collection burdens. Further, higher numbers <strong>of</strong>
homes fall into each <strong>of</strong> the categories when the post-announcement-pre-construction transactions are included, as
they are in some models. <strong>The</strong>se additional transactions are described below in Table 7 under “All Sales.”
20