A buyer sees a large data center near a home they’re considering: Will it affect the property’s value? What about electricity costs or water use? Will it increase traffic and noise? And could another facility then be built nearby too?
Those are questions real estate agents may increasingly hear as data centers spread into more communities.
But the real estate “impact is not a one-size-fits-all effect across the country,” Matt Christopherson, National Association of REALTORS®’ director of business and consumer research, said during a Sept. 15 webinar, “NAR Research Summit: Data Centers & Real Estate.”
“It can vary market to market and even within the same region," he said. "It’s more dictated by local market conditions than solely if there is a data center or not.”
As questions about data centers grow, NAR, which maintains no formal policy on data centers, is researching how the growth of facilities—fueled by the AI boom—could affect housing markets and nearby communities.
Related: Is There a ‘Data-Center Effect’ on Real Estate?
Addressing Potential Buyer Concerns
Real estate agents recently surveyed for NAR’s 2026 Data Center Impact Report say some buyers have raised concerns about nearby data centers, although the feedback is mixed. Twenty-six percent of real estate agents said data centers decreased demand for nearby residential properties, while 19% reported an increase and 27% saw no change. On home values, 25% of agents surveyed said they saw a positive effect, while 22% perceived a negative impact; about one-third were unsure.
Among those who reported concerns of nearby data centers, the most common involved energy costs, water use, perceived environmental contamination and changes to the immediate landscape when a center is located near a home.
Nadia Evangelou, NAR’s principal economist and director of real estate research, offered the following tips during the webinar for agents who may be fielding more questions about data centers:
- Put concerns in context: NAR’s analysis found that counties with a large data center presence generally have strong housing markets, with higher home values and solid long-term growth. “So, the presence of a data center alone does not mean lower home values,” she said. NAR’s report breaks down more than 3,200 U.S. counties, examining data center presence along with housing market conditions, employment and energy usage.
- Look at the individual property: Buyers may want to understand the distance of the data center and how visible it is from the property, as well as whether the development includes transmission lines, substations, water infrastructure, cooling systems or more.
- Use local market data: Look at actual local sales, inventory, days on market and buyer demand. “Comparing similar properties near and farther from a facility may provide more useful information” about how the data center may be affecting the local market, she said. “Use actual local data, not assumptions, to understand how the market is performing.”
- Help buyers find the answers to their questions: Potential buyers may have a number of questions, like: What is already there or proposed? What infrastructure will be added, such as power, water or new roads? What does the zoning allow, and are additional data centers planned nearby? Local zoning and development plans can help buyers understand what the area could look like in the future. Public records and information from local planning or utility officials can provide additional context, Christopherson said.
What the Research Shows So Far
Research can be a tool to help frame conversations with clients. In its analysis, NAR found no consistent pattern of weaker housing markets in counties with large concentrations of data centers. Those counties generally have higher home values, incomes and employment growth than counties without data centers. But researchers caution that those characteristics could have existed before the data centers arrived and instead may help explain where facilities are built in the first place. In other words, the data shows an association, but it does not establish that data centers caused higher home values, per se, Christopherson said.
Separately, Realtor.com research also found that home values in ZIP codes surrounding large data centers generally matched comparable areas without a data center within two years after a facility opened.
A separate study looking at Northern Virginia—known as “data center alley”—offers another look at potential effects from nearby data centers. Loudoun, Prince William and Fairfax counties account for about 21% of data centers nationally, according to NAR’s analysis, making the region one of the country's largest data center hubs.
During the webinar, Terry Clower, director of George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis, presented researchpdf that examined homes sold in 2023 within 7 miles of data centers. Researchers found no evidence that proximity to data centers negatively affected home values.
Clower noted, however, that Northern Virginia has its own unique housing market characteristics, including strong population growth and years of underbuilding. Those conditions may influence demand and prices independently of data centers, he said.
NAR researchers said they plan to continue studying the issue, including whether changing consumer perceptions of data centers produce measurable changes in real estate values. For real estate agents, Evangelou said the research can help agents have “more data-driven conversations” with buyers who have concerns about nearby facilities.
Christopherson said the research can provide a starting point, but perceptions can ultimately influence how buyers make real estate decisions. “Educate your clients, but realize their decision-making is largely led by their perceptions,” he said. Agents can add local context when helping buyers understand how a particular data center may affect a property, because “data centers are not the only factor at play in any given market."
Local development plans, infrastructure, energy conditions and broader market trends can help paint a fuller picture. “Use reliable local information and your local expertise to make it relevant to your market,” he said.
