The Effect of Gay Populations On Housing Prices

A new study looks at how home values in neighborhoods in Columbus, Ohio responded differently to the presence of gay populations.

1 minute read

January 7, 2012, 1:00 PM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


The results of researchers and economists David Christafore of Konkuk University in Korea and Susane Leguizamon of Tulane University find "a strong link between a neighborhood's social ideology and its response to gay populations, as measured in housing prices. In areas where 59 percent or more voted against the marriage act -- in other words, more liberal areas -- the number of same-sex households was associated with a rise in home values. In areas that voted more vehemently for the marriage act -- considered more conservative neighborhoods -- housing prices dropped when same-sex households increased," writes author Eric Jaffe.

The New research is expected to be published in the March 2012 issue of the Journal of Urban Economics [Pre-press PDF].

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