Real estate markets and coastal risks - the role of information
Marchés immobiliers et risques littoraux - le rôle de l’information
Résumé
This article assesses how information on flood risks may have affected real estate prices between 2010 and 2020 on the Charente coast (Nouvelle-Aquitaine coastline). The approach implemented pays particular attention to the vectors for disseminating risk information: information conveyed by stormy events and information from official risk zoning through the implementation of coastal risk prevention plans (PPRPs). Our case study presents two main interests in order to empircaclly test the role of information on real estate market. First, two storms occurred in winter 2014 (Hercule (06/01/2014) and Christine (03/03/2014)) that empirically confirmed the existence of this risk on the Charente coast. In addition, an official risk mapping was carried out at the end of 2014. We test the impact of different forms of risk perception on real estate prices using double difference hedonic modelling of housing prices on the coastal band. The treatment group consists of transactions exposed to the risk of marine flooding in the hazard zone. The control group consists of all other transactions located in a band of 1000 meters from the coast. Our results indicate that only the combination of a dramatic hazard and the disclosure of information via an official zoning of risks has a significant impact on the value of exposed houses.