Is there any relationship between property values and one way vs two way streets?
Are there any good statistical studies on this? I’m having difficulty finding any useful info on Google. Even some good anecdotes may be useful in my search.
Well, there’s no such thing as a one-way cul-de-sac. 
The point is flippant, but is also something to keep in mind if you do indeed encounter such a study… you’d have to restrict yourself to a comparison of thru streets to come up with anything valid…
Good luck - it’s actually an interesting question.
From what I understand, not really.
Many times, one-way streets are implemented to decrease traffic congestion, and increase traffic capacity in a corridor. In that case, the amount of traffic will be higher, along with traffic speed. Residential property values along such a street will probably be lower. On a street that was made one-way because it is extremely narrow, the the side effects of increased traffic and speeds will probably be minimal, and it’s likely there will be little or no impact on property values.
Okay, here’s the situation. It’s an urban block of row houses. (No cul-de-sacs involved.) It’s two way with houses on each side. Call it Pine St.
The house I’m concerned about is the one I grew up in and in which my mother currently lives. I’m concerned about her property value because it it likely that she will eventually want to sell it to move into an apartment or a retirement home. I’d like to see her get a decent amount for it.
The problem is with Main St. which crosses Pine at one end. Main St. is a one way street that is part of a state highway. Although it is a residential street and the limit is 25 people regularly travel at 35 or 40.
The visibility of Main from Pine is not good. Because of this there are numerous accidents. Usually because a car on Pine that is trying to cross Main pulls out and is hit by a car coming up Main.
This has been happening frequently my whole life. A number of people have been killed there. There are stop signs on Pine but Main is owned and maintained by the state and they refuse to allow stop signs or traffic signals on that intersection of Main. This has been a fight between local and state government for years. The state has measured the speed of traffic and counted the number of accidents and says that the conditions don’t meet the criteria that would allow them to legally put signals or stop signs at that intersection.
It’s recently gotten worse and the town has decided that something needs to be done. The solution is actually quite clever. The two blocks of Pine on each side of Main will each become one way, away from Main. That way no traffic will ever have to cross or turn onto Main from Pine.
My concern is what this plan will do to the property values on those two blocks of Pine. I know that I personally would think twice about buying on a one way block because of the inconvenience of always having to enter and leave it from the same direction.
I wouldn’t oppose it just because of property values - how many lives are a few thousand dollars worth? But at the same time I’m concerned that it may make it more difficult for my mother to sell.
Of course, it’s also possible that removal of the traffic hazard could increase values! I have no idea, and I haven’t been able to find any answers.
It may be that there are no answers. It may be that there haven’t been any good studies done, or it may be that this particular situation is so unique that any studies that have been done won’t be applicable.
It’s more likely that the individual characteristics of a particular street (location, location, location) swamp any general tendencies of street directionality.
Does it factor in to property value?
Probably in some aspect. But on the long list of things that affect property value I’d imagine it would be near the bottom and probably immeasureable.
And it all really depends on the situation. Could be a plus in some examples, could be a negative in others. And the degree of + or - again depends on the specific situation.
My guess is that less traffic = higher property values. Even if it’s a little more inconvenient, most people will pay more for less traffic.
In the situation you describe, I would guess that there will be a lot less traffic on Pine after it becomes one way. Because there will be no more through traffic on Pine. Also, nobody will use Pine to get to Main anymore.
So I would think the property values would go up.
By the way, there’s a decent chance that the town did a traffic study in connection with the plan. You might want to go down to town hall and take a look at it.
I agree that it may factor into the property value. My home is currently for sale and the realtor thought it was reasonable to add 5% to the price because it was on a cul de sac off the main road of the development. Although it isn’t selling but nor is anything else in the neighborhood. 
Brazil84 makes a good point about the traffic. There most likely would be a substantial reduction in through traffic. Thinking about it, this could even be used as a selling point. 
Without knowing for sure how the traffic pattern will change, it is tought to tell. One thing to think about though is will it be more or less difficult now to get to her house. If you will now be forced to go around the block or make a u-turn on a busy street, that could hurt her.
In San Jose, we have several three lane one-way streets that lead to 280. They have become virtual freeways, lots of fast moving traffic. These streets are not pedestrian friendly, and have cut off some neighborhoods, from others. They are considering changing some back to two-way traffic.
This is absolutely key. If the one-way turns the street into a semi-highway, that’s bad. My street is one way, and everyone uses it as an access road to get to a highway. They’re already gunning it up on my street before they get to the highway entrance. I hate it, and I wouldn’t buy another house in a similar situation.
On the other hand, if Pine street doesn’t go anywhere (in the direction away from Main) that people really want or need to go, then traffic will probably be reduced, and someone like me will be willing to pay *extra * to get a house like that, even if I have to do an around-the-block to get into my own driveway.
You really have to study the situation. Is there anywhere up at the other end of Pine that everyone’s really going to want to get to, and will they now consider one-way Pine an excellent way to get there? If yes, traffic up, values down. If not, I wouldn’t worry at all about how difficult it might be to get to the driveway (unless it’s really, really difficult). Some people might be put off having to go around the block to get to their own house, but there are plenty like me who wouldn’t mind at all, if it meant a quieter street.
People keep mentioning driveways. Like I said, these are row houses. Therefore there are no driveways, you park at the curb.
One good thing is that she’s on the side where you’ll still be able to park by pulling up to the curb on your right like normal. People parking on the other side will have to park with the curb to their left, most people aren’t used to that. So the other side of the street may be more impacted than her side.
Whether or not you have to go around the block depends on where you’re coming from. It will be slightly less convenient for me when I visit her. I’ll have to go around the block. In fact I could even argue that having to go around the block and use Main is more dangerous than the way I do it now.
Having to go around the block to get there, or to go to work in the morning if your workplace is in the opposite direction of travel on the one-way street, might discourage some buyers. Otherwise I think it’d have only a marginal impact on property values.
Such streets are also more likely to be in older neighborhoods near downtown, which would tend to increase property values in many cities.