Fiber access increases home values by 3.1 percent, says FTTH Council

Fiber may still be far from a ubiquitously available in every American household, but according to a new FTTH Council study, access to a fiber connection could increase a home's value by up to 3.1 percent.

In conducting their study, the authors used the National Broadband Map and a nationwide sample of real estate prices from 2011 to 2013 and examined the relationship between fiber-delivered Internet services and housing prices.

The researchers found that the having a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) connection increased a home's value by $5,437, which is nearly equivalent to adding a fireplace, half of a bathroom or a quarter of a swimming pool to the home. 

This latest study follows one FTTH Council released in 2014 that found that there was a higher per capita GDP in communities where gigabit Internet was available. 

Similarly, the new study revealed that in homes where 1 Gbps broadband was available, transaction prices were over 7 percent higher than homes located where the highest speed available is 25 Mbps or lower.  

For more:
- see the release

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