Healthy Lakes & Higher Property Values (EPA-840-F-10-002)

Healthy Lakes & Higher

Property Values

Facts and resources to help real estate professionals

protect our nation’s lakes and lake shorelines

taining and r

eal estate professionals are

important partners in main-

estoring the quality of

our nation’s lakes. “Lakeshore prop-

erty is in demand because of the

amenities or benets [it] provide[s]

its owners, such as water based

recreation possibilities, an aesthetic

setting for a home, tranquility away

from urban and commercial life, and

perhaps the privilege or esteem of

owning an increasingly scarce and

valuable resource.”

Since the value

of lakeshore property is tied to the

quality of the adjacent lake, real

estate professionals have a vested

interest in helping homebuyers and

communities restore and protect

their lakes.

In April 2010, the U.S. Environ-

mental Protection Agency pub-

lished the National Lakes Assess-

ment (NLA), the rst-ever baseline

study of the condition of the

nation’s lakes. The NLA nds that

44% of U.S. lakes are in fair or poor

condition, and that, of the problems

assessed, poor lakeshore habitat has

the greatest impact on lake health.

Lakeshore habitat refers to the

trees, shrubs, and tall grasses that

grow along the shore of a lake and

overhang the water. Poor lake-

shore habitat occurs when native

trees and shrubs are removed from

around the lake and replaced by

manicured lawns, armored bulk-

heads, paved areas, buildings, and

docks. Healthy native vegetation

strengthens and preserves the lake

shoreline, provides shelter, habitat,

and food sources for lake sh and

wildlife, and helps protect the lake

from the impacts of pollution, such

as runo from paved surfaces or

erosion from construction sites.

Clean lakes with healthy natural

shorelines are good for everyone.

They provide aesthetic value, recre-

ational opportunities, higher prop-

erty values, jobs, and a higher tax

base.

Maine and Minnesota con-

ducted two studies linking the high

quality of lakes with higher property

values. The 2005 Maine study found

that good water quality on lakes

can increase recreational revenues

by millions and individual property

values by billions over time.

Photo courtesy of John H. McShane

Resources for

Real Estate

Professionals

EPA Clean Lakes

www.epa.gov/owow/lakes

Choosing the Right

Waterfront Property

Wisconsin DNR & UW Extension

www.uwsp.edu/cnr/uwexlakes/

publications/choosingProperty/

ChoosingRightWaterfrontProperty.

pdf

Protecting Your Waterfront

Investment- 10 Simple

Shoreland Stewardship

Practices

Wisconsin DNR & UW Extension

http://clean-water.uwex.edu/pubs/

pdf/shore.waterfront.pdf

Lakeshore Property Values &

Water Quality: Evidence from

Property Sales in the Missis-

sippi Headwaters Region

Mississippi Headwaters Board and

Bemidji State University

www.friendscvsf.org/bsu_study.pdf

The Economics of Lakes-

Dollars and $ense

Maine Bureau of Land & Water

Quality

www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/

doclake/research.htm

oth

pro

ity, the “ex

the Maine and Minnesota studies found that there is a positive relationship between water clarity and

perty values. In Minnesota, the study found that if lakes experienced a one-meter change in water clar-

pected property price changes for these lakes are in the magnitude of tens of thousands to millions of

dollars.” The study also found that homebuyers are inuenced by water clarity when making purchases and are

willing to pay more for a better environment.

Additional resources on clean lakes are available at

www.epa.gov/owow/lakes/

Krysel, Charles, Elizabeth Boyer, Charles Parson, Patrick Welle (May 2003). “Lakeshore

Property Values & Water Quality: Evidence from Property Sales in the Mississippi Head-

waters Region.” Mississippi Headwaters Board and Bemidji University, pgs 9-10.

“The Economics of Lakes- Dollars and Sense. (2005). ”Maine Department of Environ-

mental Protection, Bureau of Land & Water Quality, pg 1.

Ibid,

Ibid, pg 2.

Krysel, Charles, et al., pg 34.

Lakes Protection Tips for Real Estate Professionals

Photo Fred Rozumalski

Manicured lawns require lawn chemicals that can wash into the

lake. Shallow grass roots and decorative rocks do not stabilize the

shoreline or provide habitat for lake sh.

Photo Fred Rozumalski

Deep-rooted native trees and shrubs stabilize the shoreline,

provide a buer against pollution, and improve habitat for lake

sh and wildlife.

Oce of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds

1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Mail Code 4501-T

Washington, D.C. 20460

www.epa.gov/owow/lakes

www.twitter.com/EPAowow

EPA-840-F-10-002