Owning a home in or around a pristine natural area that will remain untouched by development is no fantasy if you buy near a national park. And it doesn’t always carry a premium price, either. A recent study by Outforia, an online resource offering news, information and research about nature and outdoors activities, compared the values of homes near U.S. national parks to find the greatest premiums and discounts compared with the averages in those states.
To do so, they consulted the Zillow Home Value Index for cities or towns nearest national parks. If nearby home-value data was unavailable, or if the nearest city or town could not be clearly defined, the park was not considered, leaving 50 national parks to rank.
Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming had the highest nearby premiums. In adjacent Moose, Wyo., home values averaged $1.354 million — or 390 percent of the state average.Indiana Dunes National Park, in Indiana along Lake Michigan’s southern shore, was next. Its shoreline, prairies, rivers and forests are easily available to residents of Dune Acres, Mich., where home values averaged $807,779, or 329 percent of the state average.
Many relative bargains were also found, the greatest in International Falls, Minn., next to Voyageurs National Park (its name comes from French Canadian traders once active in the area). Homes in International Falls, Minn., were valued at an average of $78,128, or 74 percent below the state average. Although homes there had the highest percentage discount relative to the state average, the cheapest prices in the study were found adjacent to Congaree National Park, in central South Carolina. It is immediately accessible from Eastover, S.C., where the average home value was 71 percent below the state average, or just $67,192. Take a look at this week’s chart to help plot your dreams, no matter your budget.
Source link
