Morrison Homes, a

Morrison Homes, a national building firm with experience in several new urbanist developments, has conducted a study to determine how appreciation rates in three traditional neighborhood developments (TNDs), Kentlands, Celebration, and Laguna West, compare to those in conventional developments. Morrison found that buyers in the TNDs paid an average premium of 28 percent. During the study period, Morrison found that homes in the TNDs appreciated by 16.7 percent while the conventional communities averaged 14.2 percent. Morrison was motivated to conduct the study when the firm found that real estate agents were erroneously steering customers away from TNDs. “We discovered this when we noticed that TND communities were receiving fewer Realtor visits than conventional communities with comparable locations and price ranges,” writes Morrison Vice President John Rymer in BuilderOnline, “After digging a little deeper, we found that some Realtors actually steered customers away from TND neighborhoods because of a perception that they had poor appreciation potential.”