Towns that embraced New Jersey’s shift to legalized marijuana sales may have helped to boost home real estate values, according to a study conducted by Rutgers New Jersey State Policy Lab.
Those municipalities have seen average home sales prices increase by 1.6% more than in towns without legal weed sales, the study found. That amounts to $6,366 in higher real estate prices.
Researchers looked at home sales prices from one month after the September 2021 deadline for towns to opt in or out of allowing cannabis-related businesses through May 2022. That data was compared to home sales data from the three years prior.
“The theory is, home buyers, when choosing a home or a town not only look at the characteristics of the house — how many bedrooms, bathrooms, the square footage. Then also amenities – the schools, businesses, how close it is to their job. And they also look at the town’s political and economic policy,” said Rutgers University Associate Professor of Public Policy Michael Hayes.
The study by Hayes and Prakash Kandel, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Public Policy & Administration at Rutgers-Camden was prompted by a conversation Hayes had with a neighbor who was concerned about his home value decreasing after their town of Evesham decided to allow cannabis-related businesses. [Read More @ NJ.com]
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