A hedonic investigation of the rental value of apartments in central Bordeaux

Abstract
In recent research it has been argued that the hedonic regression technique can be usefully applied to the valuation of residential property. This research has focused on the valuation of owneroccupied dwellings. It is the aim of this paper to show how this technique can also usefully be applied to the private rented sector. This research implicitly recognizes both the importance of physical characteristics and the existence of market segmentation (reflected in neighbourhood premiums) in determining rental values, and finds that empirical results support this. It is argued that the model developed can help provide an understanding of the structure of local housing markets and the factors influencing the determination of rents. This should prove useful, both for landlords and tenants, in estimating the rental value of a property on the basis of the income approach to valuation.