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Prospective homebuyers naturally ask questions about the neighborhood. How close are the schools? How close are the parks? How bad is the traffic or the noise? Some also ask questions now about the giant data center next door. Here's NPR's Marissa J. Lang.
MARISSA J LANG, BYLINE: For homebuyers and sellers, data centers loom large. And as more of these massive tech hubs go up around neighborhoods, real estate agents have been trying to get a handle on what to tell clients.
NADIA EVANGELOU: So how close it is, like, whether it's visible, local, like, noise conditions, their infrastructure plans and what's happening in that specific housing market.
LANG: That's Nadia Evangelou, the director of real estate research for the National Association of REALTORS. To help guide agents, the group released a study this week that combines data center mapping with analyses of home sale prices and public perception drawn from a survey of more than 2,300 realtors from around the U.S. Evangelou said what surprised her is that there is no one-size-fits-all answer.
EVANGELOU: This may be a national conversation, but the actual realistic impact is very concentrated in a relatively, like, small number of local markets.
LANG: The report said some data centers affect communities in a positive way, raising home values and bolstering the economy by bringing in jobs, while others have spurred growing concerns about energy consumption, density and how land is being used. Steve Stovall is a realtor in Abilene, Texas, a mid-sized city about 180 miles west of Dallas.
STEVE STOVALL: It's not a secret at all that there's a big data center north of town being built. And the buyers that are currently in the market are well aware of it because they're having trouble finding housing. That's really the net result of this thing, is it's caused a shortage in housing.
LANG: That data center is set to be the biggest in U.S. history, and at $500 billion, one of the most expensive. It's already heightening anxieties, but it's not finished yet, so it's hard to know how it might impact residents. Stovall does see a bright side, though - more people, more activity, more revenue. Whatever the effects are, they're likely to compound. Two more data center projects are already planned nearby.
STOVALL: This is really a once-in-a-lifetime thing for Abilene, Texas. I've been here all my life, and I've never seen anything like this.
LANG: The national realtor group says with new data centers going up as rapidly as they are, it will need to update the results of its survey as soon as half a year from now.
Marissa J. Lang, NPR News.
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