The economic geography of Churches: housing market effects in Stockholm

Churches constitute an important part of cultural heritage and may generate local amenity values that are capitalised in housing prices. However, existing evidence is mixed, and little is known about how churches are valued in highly secular societies. This study examines whether proximity to churches affects housing prices in Stockholm County, Sweden, using more than 33,000 housing transactions from 2023. Churches are identified using OpenStreetMap (OSM) and data from the Swedish National Heritage Board (RAÄ). The latter distinguishes churches with recognised cultural-historical significance. Hedonic pricing models show that proximity to churches generally has weak and inconsistent effects. In contrast, proximity to historically listed churches is associated with significantly higher housing prices. The effects are concentrated within 500 m of the church and remain robust even under alternative specifications. The results suggest that the housing market primarily values churches as cultural heritage rather than as religious institutions. Even in one of the world’s most secular societies, historically significant churches appear to generate local amenity values that are capitalised into housing prices.