A recent study finds that legalization of cannabis has increased the price of housing in the U.S.
Researchers from the University of Oklahoma used a national housing data set from online property listing database Zillow.com to explore and identify the effects of state cannabis legalization on housing prices “in different points of the price distribution function.”
The results indicated a correlation between when states choose to legalize the drug and home prices in those states.
Researchers wrote that they discovered “positive effects upwards of ten percent in the top half of the price distribution following successful legalization ballot initiatives, and between five and fifteen percent across the distribution after the state enacts the ballot initiative and the first legal sales take place.”
The study suggests living near a dispensary in a legal U.S. state can boost property value, as evidenced by Colorado and Washington, where housing prices in neighbourhoods with newly-opened dispensaries experienced a price appreciation of approximately seven per cent.
The effects mirror a study from the National Association of Realtors published earlier this year that indicated that in states where cannabis has been legal for three years or more, the presence of nearby cannabis-related businesses provides a boost to nearby commercial real estate.
Image: Govering.com
