Study: Pot Shops Are Good for Home Values

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It looks like San Francisco’s Board of City Supervisors will have to think twice about restricting zoning for dispensaries and pot retailers. According to real estate economists, pot shops are good for home values.

A report published by the peer-reviewed academic journal Real Estate Economics found that property values in areas with dispensaries and cannabis retailers saw a significant increase. Rather than using theoretical projections, researchers based their findings off of actual statistics from cities like Denver, Colorado, where cannabis has been legalized either recreationally or for medicinal purposes.

According to the study, single-family homes in Denver within a 0.1-mile radius of pot shops experienced an 8.4 percent rise in value in comparison to those farther away—specifically those which fell between the0.1-miles and 0.25-mile range.

In terms of dollar amount, the uptick clocked in at an average of $27,000 per house.

Additionally, the data used in the survey, conducted by economists based at the University of Wisconsin, the University of Georgia and California State University, dated back from January 2014 to the present. In other words: the stats went as far back as the very date in which recreational cannabis was fully legalized in the state of Colorado.

Final Hit: Pot Shops Are Good For Home Values

“The presence of retail marijuana establishments clearly had a short-term positive impact on nearby properties in Denver,” said Moussa Diop, one of the leading researchers on the paper. “This suggests that in addition to the sales and business taxes generated from the retail marijuana industry, municipalities may experience an increase in property taxes.”

Indeed, the trend seems to run counter to fears amongst lawmakers and real estate entrepreneurs alike, who have expressed concern over whether a potential surge of pot dispensaries could depreciate property values in certain areas. As mentioned previously, officials in San Francisco, California have pointedly made strides to assuage these anxieties by placing retailer caps in districts already zoned, despite calls from the city’s Chamber of Commerce to do the opposite.

“It’s an important piece of the puzzle as more and more voters and policy-makers look for evidence about the effects of legalizing recreational marijuana, as the issue is taken up by state legislatures across the country,” Diop concluded.

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