Journal ·
What Should You Check Before Buying a Home Near Hollywood Burbank Airport?
Short answer: check three separate records before you write an offer. Whether the property sits inside the 65 CNEL noise contour on the airport's current noise exposure map. Whether an aviation easement was already recorded against the title in exchange for free sound insulation. Whether the seller delivered the airport influence area disclosure that California requires. The FAA accepted Hollywood Burbank Airport's updated noise exposure maps effective November 20, 2025, so the contour a neighbor described five years ago may not be the contour that applies to your purchase.
What is the 65 CNEL contour and why does it matter to a buyer?
Distance is the wrong unit. Aircraft noise follows departure and arrival tracks rather than concentric circles, which is why a house two miles south of the runway under a departure path can be louder than one half a mile east of it. The measure that governs is CNEL, the Community Noise Equivalent Level, a 24-hour average that penalizes evening and nighttime events. The Airport Authority reports that the Noise Impact Area as defined by the State of California has shrunk from 403 acres of incompatible land use in 1978 to under 20 acres today, which measures land use acreage rather than how loud any individual backyard is on a Tuesday afternoon.
The 65 CNEL impact area is the boundary the airport uses to decide who gets mitigation. Homes inside it qualify for the Residential Acoustical Treatment Program, which the Authority runs with FAA funding. Treatment can include door and window replacement, attic insulation, weather stripping, ventilation and air conditioning, designed home by home and installed by contractors the Authority selects.
The program traces back to a Part 150 study first completed in 1989 and updated in 2000, 2003, 2012 and 2015. Schools and more than 1,800 homes have been treated since the Authority bought the airport in 1978.
A treated home can be measurably quieter inside than an untreated neighbor at the same distance, and an untreated home inside the contour may still be eligible. Neither fact appears in a listing description.
What does an aviation easement do to a property you are buying?
This is the part most buyers miss. The sound insulation is free to the property owner provided the owner grants the Authority an aviation easement. The Authority describes the easement plainly: it allows aircraft to fly over the home without the threat of a future lawsuit by the property owner against the Airport Authority.
An aviation easement is a recorded interest. It runs with the land and it binds you, not only the seller who accepted the windows. If you buy a treated home near the airport, that easement is very likely sitting in your preliminary title report as an exception. It does not usually change what you can build, but it does change your legal position if noise later becomes intolerable to you. Order the report early and read the exceptions rather than skimming the summary page.
Does the seller have to disclose that a home is near the airport in California?
Yes. The "Notice of Airport in Vicinity" is tied to Business and Professions Code section 11010 and Civil Code section 1103.4. Where a jurisdiction has not adopted its own form, disclosure of an airport influence area under those sections, or written disclosure of an airport within two statute miles when no current airport influence map exists, is deemed to satisfy local disclosure requirements.
The statutory notice says the property is in the vicinity of an airport, within what is known as an airport influence area, and may be subject to some of the annoyances or inconveniences associated with proximity to airport operations. That is the floor. The notice tells you an airport exists. It says nothing about which contour you are in or whether an easement is recorded.
What changed when the FAA accepted the new noise exposure maps in November 2025?
On November 25, 2025 the FAA published its determination that the noise exposure maps submitted by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority comply with the applicable requirements, at 90 FR 53418. The determination took effect November 20, 2025. The accepted documents are Figure 5-1, the existing conditions 2025 noise exposure map, and Figure 5-2, the future conditions 2030 map, both part of the Part 150 Noise Exposure Map Update dated August 2025.
Two details in that notice matter to a buyer and appear almost nowhere else. The maps include a 2030 forecast contour, so a property outside today's contour is not automatically outside the forecast one. And the FAA states that it is not involved in determining the relative location of specific properties with regard to the depicted contours, leaving that overlay to the airport operator and local planning authorities. For a property-level answer, the airport and the city are the offices to ask. Copies of the maps are available for examination at Hollywood Burbank Airport, 2627 North Hollywood Way.
Is there a curfew at Hollywood Burbank Airport?
There is a restriction, and it is narrower than most people assume. Between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. local time, takeoffs and landings of aircraft classified as noisy are prohibited. Operations caused by emergencies, use of the airport as a weather alternative, and air traffic control delays are permitted.
The Authority pursued a mandatory curfew through a Part 161 study. In November 2009 the FAA found that the study did not justify imposing one, so the voluntary curfew and the noisy-aircraft rule are what remain.
How do you check aircraft noise at a specific address before you make an offer?
Do it in this order.
- Pull the address into WebTrak, the airport's public flight tracking tool, and review actual tracks over several days rather than one.
- Ask airport staff about current contour status through the Part 150 Study Update page, where staff extensions are listed.
- Order the preliminary title report and search the exceptions for the word easement, then read every one mentioning aviation or overflight.
- Ask the seller in writing whether the home received acoustical treatment and in what year.
- Visit twice, once between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and once between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., which brackets the hours the restriction covers.
| What you check | Where the record lives | Cost | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flight tracks over the address | WebTrak, airport site | Free | Before offer |
| 65 CNEL contour status | Airport Authority, Part 150 staff | Free | Before offer |
| Recorded aviation easement | Preliminary title report | In escrow fees | Contingency period |
| Airport influence area notice | Seller disclosure packet | Free | With disclosures |
| Prior acoustical treatment | Seller, written question | Free | Contingency period |
What are Burbank home prices doing in mid 2026?
Sources disagree methodologically. Redfin reports a Burbank median sale price of about $1.3 million, up roughly 9 percent year over year, with homes selling in around 48 days. Zillow's home value index for Burbank sat near $1.10 million as of June 2026, down about 5 percent year over year. Redfin's figure is the median of closed sales, so it moves with which homes happened to sell. Zillow's index estimates typical value across the whole housing stock, sold or not, and is smoothed. Pull comparable sales for the specific street before pricing, particularly in pre-war pockets like Magnolia Park, where lot and era consistency makes block-level comps far more useful than citywide medians.
On financing, Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the 30-year fixed average at 6.67 percent for the week of August 13, 2026, compared with 6.69 percent the prior week and 6.58 percent a year earlier. Rates move weekly and nobody can guarantee where they land.
FAQ
Q: Does living near Hollywood Burbank Airport lower a home's value?
Proximity is priced into the market already, which is why comparable sales on the same block are the only reliable guide. What tends to matter more to a specific buyer pool is whether the home has been acoustically treated and whether an aviation easement is recorded. Both are verifiable facts rather than opinions.
Q: Can I get free window replacement if I buy a home inside the 65 CNEL contour?
Possibly. The Residential Acoustical Treatment Program is free to the property owner in exchange for granting the Authority an aviation easement. Eligibility depends on the contour and available federal grant funding, so confirm current status with airport staff rather than relying on what a neighbor received in a past program year.
Q: How do I find out if an aviation easement is recorded on a property?
It appears as an exception in the preliminary title report. Ask your escrow or title officer for the specific exception number and the recorded document, then read the recorded document rather than the one-line summary.
Q: Do the noise contours cover Studio City and Sherman Oaks too?
Flight track concerns have been raised from those communities, and the treatment program covers qualified units in Burbank and Los Angeles. Studio City and Sherman Oaks are neighborhoods within the City of Los Angeles, so permitting and utilities there run through Los Angeles departments, while Burbank has its own city services. Confirm contour status address by address rather than by neighborhood name.
Q: Is the airport's noise map final now?
The FAA accepted the noise exposure maps effective November 20, 2025. Map acceptance and noise compatibility program approval are separate steps, and acceptance of a map is not approval of a program or a funding commitment. Check the airport's Part 150 page before relying on any contour.
This article is general information about public records and disclosure requirements, not legal or tax advice. Verify contour status, easements and disclosures for the specific property with the airport, the city and your title officer. Call Alla at (818) 699-5367 or use the enquiry form.
More on this market in the Burbank area guide, and see recent commentary and media appearances on the press page.