House values are greatly affected by their settings: more attractive environment is likely to influence house prices. This study (2000) asked what environmental factors make a location an attractive place to live and how they affect house prices. The research was concluded by hedonic pricing method, which uses statistical analysis to estimate that part of a price influenced to a particular attribute. The study has nearly 3000 house transactions in eight different towns or regions in the Netherlands to estimate the effect of environmental attributes on transaction prices.

Most salient results were as follows:

• The largest increases in house prices due to environmental factors (up to 28 %) were for houses with a garden facing water connected to a lake
• Pleasant view can lead to significant increase in price: overview to a lake 8–10 %, open space 6–12 %
• Landscape type also affects the price: more attractive landscapes attracted a premium of 5–10 % over less attractive environmental settings

The study concludes, that house value can greatly depend on the type of environmental setting it is built on. People prefer natural landscapes, and are willing to pay considerably more on houses located in attractive locations.