For as long as there’s been supportive housing developments—housing for the recently homeless and others needing relatively high levels of services—there’s been wary neighbors, some of whom fear their own land values will drop.
No need to worry, say the folks over at NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. The center put out a study today that says that, generally, values actually go up over time for nearby properties. Looking at 123 supportive housing developments between the 1980s and 2003, the study found neighboring properties between 500 and 1,000 feet away from the housing see values drop at first before rising, but values increase over time compared with other properties further away in the same neighborhoods. Properties within 500 feet of the housing do not see a drop, and increase in value over time when compared with other properties farther away.
“Our findings show that the values of properties within 500 feet of supportive housing show steady growth relative to other properties in the neighborhood in the years after supportive housing opens. Properties somewhat further away (between 500 and 1,000 feet) show a decline in value when supportive housing first opens, but prices then increase steadily, perhaps as the market realizes that fears about the supportive housing turned out to be wrong.
The city, state, and providers of supportive housing must continue to maximize the positive effects of supportive housing and ensure that supportive housing residences remain good neighbors. But the evidence refutes the frequent assertions by opponents of proposed developments that supportive housing has a sustained negative impact on neighboring property values.”
