Home Values To Increase By $54 million if we get NBA Team
Will an NBA team make Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads better, more attractive places to live because the presence of the team provides visibility, cachet and entertainment? Further, will this bid up property values?
According to the economic impact report prepared by James V. Koch, Board of Visitors Professor of Economics, Old Dominion University The answers to these two questions are yes.
Though nearly all of the previous studies have focused upon the economic impact of an NFL team on a region not an NBA team
Further, the studies have generated highly variable estimates of how large this “amenity” effect actually is. Given the variability of the estimates (as applied to Virginia Beach, for example, the methodology of one outlying study would produce an estimate of a $1.0+ billion amenity-induced increase in assessed valuation because of the NBA team), it seems prudent to adopt a conservative estimate. If we set aside the $1.0+ billion estimate as an outlier and then apply the methodologies of the other studies, then we emerge with a cluster of estimates around $20 million for the City of Virginia Beach and $30 million for Hampton Roads when those estimates are tailored to our area..
The bottom line is that there is a traceable amenity value to hosting an NBA team and as time passes, the presence of that team causes property values to rise. Note, however, that this is a one-time stimulus to property values and does not cumulate each year.
