Testing for the impact of local spatial structure characteristics on house prices

The starting point of this paper is a hedonic regression model where house prices are explained as a result of urban attraction and the accessibility to job opportunities in the region. We introduce the hypothesis that households in addition value accessibility to job opportunities in the neighborhood, and study if and how this is reflected in house prices. We propose several measures of local labor market characteristics, and test for the impact on house prices. The alternative measures do not add considerably to the explanatory power. Still, some characteristics contribute significantly, and affect the strength and interpretation of the relationship between local labor market conditions and house prices.