Study: Same-Sex Couples Affect Property Values

Posted on 17 November 2011

VANCOUVER, CANADA – A controversial new study suggests that in neighborhoods where extreme conservatism prevails, the presence of one more same-sex couple for every 1,000 households is linked to a one per cent drop in housing prices. In liberal neighborhoods, by contrast, researchers find the associated effect of gays and lesbians on housing prices to be positive.

According to the Vancouver Sun, the study, which appears in the Journal of Urban Economics, draws data from more than 20,000 home sales and controls factors as access to amenities, racial homogeneity, education, income, housing characteristics and quality of nearby schools.

A 2009 study reported that 20% of gays and lesbians consider themselves to have been victims of either price or property discrimination at some point. Importantly, however, research led by Richard Florida at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management has consistently shown that higher concentrations of gay people are linked with economic prosperity, innovation and creativity within a region.

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