Subdivisions With Protected Open Space Are More Profitable, Study Shows

The research, which compared 205 Colorado “conservation development” subdivisions to conventional subdivisions with a similar overall density, found that homes in the former sold for an average of 20 to 29 percent more than homes in the latter.

The study’s authors hope that these results will spur more developers to set aside land for wildlife conservation. “In addition to the market benefit of including conservation land in developments, developers may save on construction costs,” Bendix Anderson points out. “That is because clustering homes closer together can reduce the amount of infrastructure needed to develop a subdivision.”

The Colorado study confirms what other surveys have already shown. In 2008, for instance, 90 percent of homebuyers questioned by the National Association of Realtors indicated that “environmental features are important” to their decision to purchase real estate.