Key takeaways

Perception can affect real-world markets through the curious pricing of beach properties.

Leeds School of Business assistant professors Asaf Bernstein and Ryan Lewis researched thousands of land parcel sales.

Properties exposed to sea-level rise sold for an average of 7 percent less than comparable properties that were not exposed.

Originally published Aug. 22, 2018

A potential rise in sea level affects how much home buyers are willing to spend, according to research by two assistant professors at ֱ Boulder’s Leeds School of Business.

Asaf Bernstein and Ryan Lewis have been investigating how perception can affect real-world markets through the curious pricing of beach properties.

After researching thousands of land parcel sales from 2007 to 2017, Bernstein and Lewis discovered that properties exposed to sea-level rise sold for an average of 7 percent less than comparable properties that were not exposed.

Why the discount? Buyers, especially “sophisticated buyers” purchasing properties as investments, appear to factor sea-level rise exposure into their valuation of coastal properties.

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