Hamilton's West Harbour GO station may not have a lot of trains stopping there, but it's been a shot in the arm to the real estate market around it.

A new CMHC study has found that homes in neighbourhoods in the area of the station are worth an average of $30,000 - or nine per cent - more than if the station wasn't there.

And the same thing is true for the Confederation station in east Hamilton. It's not even built yet, but news of construction has led to price increases of $40,000 - or eight per cent.

In St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, around planned GO stations in those communities, there has also been a price jump of $30,000 - eight per cent and seven per cent, respectively.

"These GO stations have a material impact on prices," said Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation senior analyst Anthony Passarelli. "It's an extra amenity that will add value."

Also interesting with the West Harbour station, is that most of the price rise occurred between the time of the project's announcement in 2013 and its completion in 2015, which suggests homebuyers got excited about talk of the opening, but may have become less enthusiastic after the ribbon was cut.

The station currently is a long way from full-day service, with four commuter departures in the morning and four returning trains in the late afternoon.

"When the station was opened, there were expectations of full-day service very quickly and it didn't happen. That might be part of the reason why most of the price increase happened between the announcement and the station completion date," said Passarelli.

The West Harbour GO station part of his study - looking at average prices in the Hamilton Centre neighbourhood bounded by Kenilworth and James, the Mountain and the bay - found increases of $215,000 since 2013, with $30,000 of that increase attributed to the station.

To come to that conclusion, CMHC researchers compared the Hamilton findings to a section of Brantford that was experiencing price increases at the same rate as Hamilton Centre. From that, they were able to tease out the effect of the station introduction in Hamilton.

"Prices have been growing at a high rate in places that didn't have a station as well, just not as much as in Hamilton Centre," he said.

The same methodology of using a control group was also used to analyze the GO station effect in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and in east Hamilton, on the edge of Stoney Creek.

Increased demand for housing is just one economic outcome from GO stations, said Judy Lam, with the city's economic development division.

"The West Harbour station in particular is key to the future growth of Hamilton. We're trying to attract people that will serve as the future workforce for the companies that we are attracting here," she said.

"Transit is one of the main attractions for young professionals who want to be in urban environments."

Having a viable public transportation link to Toronto, she said, will mean businesses can set up in Hamilton with an easier connection to Toronto for meetings and networking. And that becomes an incentive for businesses to open here.

A key to this is for GO stations to move to toward full-day service, something that could be years away, she said.

When that happens, Passarelli said, it will likely affect prices again.

"If it does or when it does, you will probably see further increases as a result," he said.

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