ISER explores the value of Mat-Su Borough’s natural amenities

Location, location, location. If your property fronts a lake or salmon stream here in Alaska, you're not just well-placed for recreation, photo opportunities and fresh fish for your grill, you are also probably aware that your property value is higher than a similarly sized parcel without easy access to water. But just how much do natural amenities like salmon streams, lakes, park land and protected forests add to appraised land values? Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) professor of economics, Matthew Berman, and co-author Jeffrey Armagost studied properties in the Mat-Su Borough and came up with an answer.

Those natural amenities contribute more than $2.5 billion, or roughly 37 percent of the total $7 billion in appraised value to residential property and vacant land in the Mat-Su Borough. You can read their full analysis here. The study was supported by The Nature Conservancy, the Bullitt Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.