HAZARD AREA DISCLOSURE IN NEW-ZEALAND - THE IMPACTS ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY-VALUES IN 2 COMMUNITIES

Disclosure of the hazardousness of locations through maps and land use policies has been recommended by researchers in New Zealand in order to increase awareness of the potential for a natural hazard in a community and to allow residents to make informed locational decisions. Opposition to this recommendation has come mostly from the business sector, which argues that such disclosure will have a negative effect on property values. However, this has not been proven, and research results elsewhere are contradictory. Despite opposition, some communities in New Zealand have implemented hazard area disclosure. Two of these communities serve as case studies for this research. Te Aroha's maps and policies result from action following a damaging debris flow in 1985. Thames, a coastal community with riverine flooding problems, uses flood zone maps for building and planning decisions. Evaluation of residential real estate sales before and after disclosure suggests that hazard designation and related policies have had no marked impact on property values. Even for houses with repeat sales, hazardousness was not a significant contributor to price differentials. Indeed, differences in values can be attributed to housing characteristics irrespective of the level of hazardousness associated with a location.