Shale Gas Boom Directly Affects PA Property Values

The authors looked specifically at Washington County, just southwest of Pittsburgh. And after running a variety of statistical tests and controlling for as many relevant variables as they could, they found that proximity to a well has a fairly large effect on nearby property values. A property near a drilling pad gets a 10.7 percent boost in value, on average — presumably reflecting the benefit of those lease payments from gas companies.

Properties that depend on groundwater, meanwhile, take a large home-value hit — up to 24 percent — if they’re within 2,000 meters of a new well.

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