Financial Value of Mangroves for Coastal Housing

CEPR discussion paper reports that proximity to mangroves in Florida reduces housing losses from hurricanes.

• Main finding: Authors Liu, T; B Constantz; G Hale; and M Beck use property-level housing transaction data from Zillow to show that proximity to mangroves in Florida reduces the probability of losing a quarter or more of housing value by 2–7 percentage points, which the authors quantify as approximately $20,000–$40,000 in value for a $1,000,000 property, conditional on a hurricane.
• Background and details: The paper (CEPR Discussion Paper No. 20684, CEPR Press, Paris & London) frames this as part of the challenge that measuring the financial value of nature is difficult, cites wetlands’ role in storm-damage reduction, and uses Zillow property-level transactions in Florida to estimate impacts on home price decline and dispersion after major hurricanes. The publication URL is provided for the full study.