The effect of locations of central metro stations on real estate values. A case study of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Almost all of the most populated cities in the world have invested heavily on high capacity urban public transit systems. Apart from the direct economic benefits –travel time reduction, environmental benefits, some indirect benefits are the increase in real estate values (residential and commercial), improved accessibility and possible land use changes towards the development of an area. This study investigates the impact of the future central metro stations of Thessaloniki on real estate values. Real estate values can increase up to 11,3% at a distance shorter than 50 m and gradually decrease up to -14% for a distance greater than 500 m. A hedonic analysis is presented so as to determine the influence of metro stations to 52 commercial properties. The results of the investigation indicate that the changes in market are not necessarily connected or totally attributed to the construction of the metro stations. Instead interesting results show that in some cases common belief about the impact of urban public transit systems can be slightly different.