Protect Lakeville Preserving Our Land, Water, Wildlife & Community

Health & Quality of Life

Property Values & Home Equity

What published, peer-reviewed research finds about residential property values near mining, quarry, and rail-horn activity elsewhere — shown as a range, not a Lakeville prediction.

60-Second Summary

  • A 2019 U.S. study of rock-mining proximity found an average residential sale-price reduction of roughly 2.3–5.1% within one mile of an active mining operation.
  • A 2020 study of open-pit mining proximity found sale-price discounts in the range of roughly 20–30% within about two kilometers, in the specific markets it examined.
  • Effect size varies substantially by study location, mineral type, distance band, and local market conditions — no study in this literature is specific to Lakeville, Massachusetts.
  • No Lakeville-specific property-value analysis has been published for this proposal.
Potential ImpactRequires Determination

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Published Property-Value Discount Ranges by Study

Potential Impact

Percent reduction in residential sale price, relative to comparable unaffected properties

Malikov, Sun & Hite (2019) — U.S. rock mining, within 1 mile2.3% – 5.1%
Kolala et al. (2020) — open-pit mining, within ~2 km20% – 30%

Assumptions: Each bar shows one published study's own reported low–high range, plotted independently. The two studies are not comparable to each other — they examine different mineral types, distances, and markets.

Methodology: Ranges as reported in the cited peer-reviewed literature; not recalculated or adjusted for Lakeville.

Key sources

  1. Malikov, Sun & Hite — "(Under)Mining Local Residential Property Values: A Semiparametric Spatial Quantile Autoregression" — houses a mile closer to a rock mine sell at a 2.3–5.1% discount — Journal of Applied Econometrics, 2019, 34(1): 82–109, 2019 (live document — verify current version)Independently re-verified during this site's Sept. 4, 2026 factual audit. Published under this title (not the working-paper title "The Value-Undermining Effects of Rock Mining on Nearby Residential Property" that circulated on SSRN in 2017) — same paper, later journal placement confirmed via the lead author's own research page. The 2.3–5.1% discount-per-mile-closer figure and the finding that the effect fades to near-zero at roughly ten miles both match this site's existing citation.
  2. Kolala et al. — "Impacts of mining on property values in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia" — homes within 2km of the mine sell at a 20–30% discount vs. homes 6–7km away — Resources Policy, vol. 68 (2020), 2020 (live document — verify current version)Independently re-verified during this site's Sept. 4, 2026 factual audit via a ResearchGate copy (the ScienceDirect page blocks automated fetching). Exact abstract text: "residential properties located within two kilometres of the mine trade at a 20% to 30% discount to similar residential properties located at least six to seven kilometres from the mine," based on 21,850 sales, 1990–2018. This matches this site's existing 20–30%/2km citation.
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Potential Impact

Additional literature on rail-noise proximity

A separate U.S. case study on train-horn noise (Bellinger, 2006) found an average property-value reduction of about 4.1% per 10 dB of added horn-noise exposure in the study area examined — independently re-verified during this site's Sept. 4, 2026 factual audit.

A companion citation describing a broader rail-noise property-value literature review could not be independently verified during this audit as a specific, distinct publication, and is retained here only as a general pointer to the wider literature rather than a confirmed individual source — see the source list below for detail.

This literature addresses horn/rail noise specifically, distinct from the mining-proximity studies above, and is discussed further on Train Noise, Horns & Livability.

Key sources

  1. Bellinger — "The Economic Valuation of Train Horn Noise: A US Case Study" — residential values fall about 4.1% (approx. $4,800 in the study area) per 10 dB of added horn-noise exposure — Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment (2006), 2006Independently re-verified during this site's Sept. 4, 2026 factual audit (ScienceDirect blocks automated fetching; confirmed via a secondary academic index citing the paper's abstract). Author, journal, year, and the 4.1%-per-10dB figure all match this site's existing citation exactly.
  2. Rail-noise property-value literature — effects on residential real estate by location and exposure — Transportation Research Part DCOULD NOT BE INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED as a specific, distinct publication during this site's Sept. 4, 2026 factual audit — repeated searches did not locate one paper matching this title/publisher combination. This citation is retained as a general characterization of the wider rail-noise property-value literature (see the more specific, individually verified s16, s17, s54, s15 for confirmed figures) rather than as a single confirmed source, and the Property Values page has been updated to state this plainly. Requires determination: either locate the specific intended paper or remove this citation.
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Confirmed Fact

What this page does and does not claim

This page visualizes credible, published research to give residents a documented range of what similar operations have been associated with elsewhere. It does not claim, predict, or guarantee that any specific Lakeville property will lose value, and it is not a substitute for a qualified local appraisal.

Related Pages

Train Noise, Horns & Livability

Howland Road & Truck Traffic

Blasting & Vibration

Air Quality

Forest Clearing & Deforestation

Future Development

Requires Determination

What Has Not Yet Been Established

  • A Lakeville-specific property-value or market-impact study
  • Distance-banded analysis for parcels nearest to 30 Howland Road and the rail corridor
  • Any applicant-commissioned economic impact study, if one exists
  • The specific published source behind the general "rail-noise property-value literature" citation (s56) — not independently located during this site's factual audit

Key sources

  1. Malikov, Sun & Hite — "(Under)Mining Local Residential Property Values: A Semiparametric Spatial Quantile Autoregression" — houses a mile closer to a rock mine sell at a 2.3–5.1% discount — Journal of Applied Econometrics, 2019, 34(1): 82–109, 2019 (live document — verify current version)Independently re-verified during this site's Sept. 4, 2026 factual audit. Published under this title (not the working-paper title "The Value-Undermining Effects of Rock Mining on Nearby Residential Property" that circulated on SSRN in 2017) — same paper, later journal placement confirmed via the lead author's own research page. The 2.3–5.1% discount-per-mile-closer figure and the finding that the effect fades to near-zero at roughly ten miles both match this site's existing citation.
  2. Lavee & Bahar — "Estimation of external effects from the quarrying sector using the hedonic pricing method" — three quarries studied; external effects correlated with an approx. 8.6% overall property-price decrease, with roughly a 1% value increase per 10% increase in distance from the quarry — Land Use Policy, vol. 69 (2017), pp. 541–549, 2017 (live document — verify current version)Independently re-verified during this site's Sept. 4, 2026 factual audit. Full author names, exact title, volume and page numbers confirmed; this site does not currently attribute a specific numeric claim to this study anywhere except the general source list on the Property Values page.
  3. Kolala et al. — "Impacts of mining on property values in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia" — homes within 2km of the mine sell at a 20–30% discount vs. homes 6–7km away — Resources Policy, vol. 68 (2020), 2020 (live document — verify current version)Independently re-verified during this site's Sept. 4, 2026 factual audit via a ResearchGate copy (the ScienceDirect page blocks automated fetching). Exact abstract text: "residential properties located within two kilometres of the mine trade at a 20% to 30% discount to similar residential properties located at least six to seven kilometres from the mine," based on 21,850 sales, 1990–2018. This matches this site's existing 20–30%/2km citation.
  4. Bellinger — "The Economic Valuation of Train Horn Noise: A US Case Study" — residential values fall about 4.1% (approx. $4,800 in the study area) per 10 dB of added horn-noise exposure — Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment (2006), 2006Independently re-verified during this site's Sept. 4, 2026 factual audit (ScienceDirect blocks automated fetching; confirmed via a secondary academic index citing the paper's abstract). Author, journal, year, and the 4.1%-per-10dB figure all match this site's existing citation exactly.
  5. Rail-noise property-value literature — effects on residential real estate by location and exposure — Transportation Research Part DCOULD NOT BE INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED as a specific, distinct publication during this site's Sept. 4, 2026 factual audit — repeated searches did not locate one paper matching this title/publisher combination. This citation is retained as a general characterization of the wider rail-noise property-value literature (see the more specific, individually verified s16, s17, s54, s15 for confirmed figures) rather than as a single confirmed source, and the Property Values page has been updated to state this plainly. Requires determination: either locate the specific intended paper or remove this citation.
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