How public transit can push home prices upward

Redfin recently looked at several metro areas and scored their ease of access to public transit. According to the company, one transit score point can affect a home’s price by $2,040 or 0.6%.

“Transit is an important building block to economic mobility,” said Redfin Chief Economist Nela Richardson. “The more that cities invest in good transit, the bigger financial impact for homeowners and the better access families of all incomes have to jobs and public amenities. Transit is an economic win-win for communities.”

One transit score point is worth the most, as a percentage of median value, in Atlanta, which had a transit score of 44. There, home prices can go up by $1,901, or about one full percentage point, per transit score point. Meanwhile, Orange County had a transit score of 27 – but the area’s car culture means the transit score actually made the average home about $200 less valuable.

“Most people in Orange County prefer to drive their own cars; few would consider any other way to get around,” said Redfin real estate agent Keith Thomas Jr. “Parking is easy to come by and traffic isn’t bad, so it makes sense that public transit doesn’t impact the price of a home the way it would in a more urban area like L.A.”

Below are 14 major metro areas and how their transit scores can affect home prices: