Light rail to push up house prices

[ACT Light Rail]

Light Railers,

Interesting article from the Sydney Morning Herald:

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/light-rail-to-push-up-house-prices-20100312-q469.html

Cheers

Damien Haas

Chair, ACT Light Rail

Light rail to push up house prices
Andrew West
March 13, 2010
Property values along light rail corridors could soar, a new report
suggests, but experts say governments would need to temper the price
rises with more affordable housing.

A new paper from the lobby group the Tourism and Transport Forum,
supporting the extension of Sydney's limited light rail network, cites
examples in the United States where land values within 800 metres of
mass transit have risen by as much as 120 per cent.

''Light rail is also seen to have a positive effect on property
values,'' the forum's paper says.

It refers to increases in house prices of 32 per cent near the
Metrolink lines in St Louis, Missouri; 45 per cent increases in the
value of apartments along the line in Santa Clara, California; a 120
per cent increase in the value of office space along the same line;
and a 30 per cent rise in retail space values along the light rail
system in Dallas, Texas.

''This premium value,'' the forum paper says, ''paves the way for
transit-oriented development strategies, which increase both density
along light rail corridors and increase patronage, improving the cost
benefit of the system.''

The planned extension of Sydney's light rail, from the Lilyfield
terminus to Dulwich Hill train station, is also likely to affect
property values in Leichhardt, Haberfield, Lewisham, Summer Hill and
Dulwich Hill.

A study found that after dedicated bus transitways opened in Brisbane,
''median property values for suburbs adjacent to the transitway
increased by between 3.9 per cent and 20.86 per cent within a few
months of opening, compared with a value change of between minus 4.35
per cent and and 6.63 per cent for non-adjacent suburbs''.

But housing advocates warn the government would need to zone some of
the precincts near light rail for accommodation for low and middle
earners. ''Access to good public transport is often reflected in house
prices,'' the executive officer of Shelter NSW, Mary Perkins, said.
''We argue that when governments are developing new areas around
transport hubs, there has to be meaningful affordable housing.''

But Ms Perkins doubts there will be a big increase in inner-west
property values because the suburbs are already served by heavy rail
and buses - and already expensive.

''We believe good, accessible public transport should be available to
all suburbs,'' she added. ''Public transport only adds specific value
to property when it is a rare commodity.''

The director of the Urban Research Program at Griffith University in
Brisbane, Brendan Gleeson, said governments around Australia and
overseas were already imposing modest levies on mainly commercial
properties that gained a windfall from the building of nearby rail
lines. He said these ''betterment'' levies, often payable over 10 to
20 years, could be earmarked for the building of affordable housing
along public transport corridors.

''These prevent the entire windfall from publicly funded
infrastructure being siphoned off for purely private again,''
Professor Gleeson said.

One of the world's leading urban planners, Professor Ed Blakely, said
the introduction of permanent infrastructure - such as light rail or
even a simple overhead wire for a trolley bus - encouraged better
development. ''You get a better result than with an ordinary bus route
because people fear that the bus can move away.''