Are House Prices Affected by PM_2.5 Pollution? Evidence from Beijing, China

With the progress of high-quality development in China, residents have begun to focus on the air quality of their residential areas in an effort to reduce the health threats of air pollution. Gradually, the risk associated with air pollution has become an important factor affecting housing prices. To quantitatively analyze the impact of air pollution on house prices, panel data, including data for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations, house prices and other auxiliary variables from 2009 to 2018, were collected from 16 districts in Beijing, China. Based on this dataset, ordinary least squares (OLS), moderating effect and threshold effect models were constructed for empirical investigation. Within the studied decade, PM2.5 pollution shows a significant decreasing trend of −3.79 μg m−3 yr−1 (p < 0.01). For house prices, the opposite trend was found. The empirical results indicate that PM2.5 pollution has a negative effect on house prices and that every 1% increase in PM2.5 causes an approximately 0.541% decrease in house prices. However, the inhibition of PM2.5 on housing prices is moderated by regional educational resources, especially in areas with high education levels. In addition, per capita disposable income can also cause heterogeneities in the impact of PM2.5 on house prices, whereby the threshold is approximately CNY 101,185. Notably, the endogeneity problems of this study are solved by the instrumental variable method, and the results are robust. This outcome suggests that the coordinated control of air pollution and balanced educational resources among regions are required for the future sustainable development of the real estate market.