The Impact of Tear-downs and Rebuilds at White Rock Lake

White Rock Lake (areas 12-7 and 12-8) is a very unique and desirable location within Dallas County in terms of having waterfront property in close proximity to downtown, SMU, and various other shopping and dining amenities. Its per square list prices often exceed $150-200 per square foot which is comparably high within the greater Dallas area (e.g. Plano in Collin County averages closer to an average price of $95 per square foot)

This area also contains a battle for the character of its neighborhoods as it has been the source of frequent redevelopment efforts in recent years. These efforts have largely been of the tear-down and rebuild variety. The existing housing developments were created primarily in the decades of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s with predominantly similar architectural designs and proportions. However, the newer houses that have been built within these neighborhoods have varied widely in terms of architecture (e.g. two-story modern designs reside in the middle of a street with single story mid-century ranch styles) and in size as the newer designs tend to dwarf the size of its neighbors.

While this area is a desirable location within the city, my study will analyze the effect of tear-down/rebuilds on the sales prices of neighboring properties that have not undergone significant renovation within the last ten years. This will be done by examining sales data associated with the year built, mean size of houses that are less than 10 years old versus 10+ years, and the mean number of bedrooms/baths between the two age categories. In addition, I will look at the magnitude of this effect on sales price by considering proximity to the lake itself by geographic distance.