Commercial Meta Analysis

This paper addresses the effects of environmental contamination on non-residential property values. Source items include: leaking underground storage tanks, landfills, groundwater pollution, asbestos, and other types of contamination. The study summarizes approximately 20 articles and 100 selected case studies from real estate appraiser files. A data set containing 106 observations is run using Ordinary Least Squares Regression (OLS), with percentage loss as the dependent variable and the independent variables being land use type, distance from the source (mostly contaminated subjects), pathway, passage of time, calendar year, urban or rural environment, market conditions, litigation, indemnification. The results reveal several contamination types and selected other factors are significant. We conclude with how these results can support the selection of case studies for valuation.