What is changing around you can affect your home value

 Our world is constantly changing. One day traffic flows through our town one way and the next it can flow through different thoroughfares, depending on how our town managers plan out our transportation options.

You may not think about this on a daily basis, but how has life in your home changed since you have lived there – outside your walls? While we usually look at neighborhoods and individual homes values as increasing or decreasing, it is may be due to age of the neighborhood and how well the homes are kept up. We tend to forget about how homes and neighborhoods can appreciate or decrease in value based on their views, proximity to shopping, crime, zoning, etc.

Of the numerous things that affect home value, traffic’s effect is substantial. Perhaps you’ve noticed that since you’ve lived in your town, traffic and noise may have increased in certain areas. You may have not noticed is how that traffic increased may have altered home values. Buyers may turn away from neighborhoods where large volumes or fast-moving traffic pass through, as well as when noise and road safety are an issue.

Other traffic to be aware of is that of planes and trains. Increased commerce is good for the economy, but if you happen to live under a flight path or near train tracks, that increase in number of flights or number of times a train rumbles through the neighborhood can change property values.

Residents around the Renton Airport have continuously fought expansion of that airport to large jet liners. More air traffic to that airport effects all South end waterfront homes and all of Mercer Island. The increased noise if the airport expanded would decrease property values. Thankfully the expansion has been very minimal and instead Sea-Tac airport was expanded instead.

Development is everywhere these days with our economy rapidly growing. Builders are desperate to find land to put in new housing. That is going to create some growing pains. Traffic will get thicker in new areas. If you are looking to move, pay attention to large undeveloped areas, if you are seeing similar areas being developed in the area good chance that location is next.

Luckily, many kinds of development will positively affect your home value; the development of schools, grocery stores, business and shopping districts can increase your home’s value, especially if it located near public transportation. Demand for homes near these developments escalates and they tend to be worth more than homes further away.

It is a hard thing to predict how a neighborhood may change and grow. With factors, sometimes unforeseen, influencing your home and its value, it is very important to do your research before you buy and work with a real estate agent with local expertise.