According to a survey by insurance comparison company the Zebra, less than half – 46% – of respondents would purchase a house within one mile of a cannabis dispensary. The survey found 51% of men would buy a home next to a cannabis shop but just 40% of women.
The Zebra found that Westerners were most open to buying a home near a dispensary (45%) followed by 44% of Midwesterners and Southerners, and 37% of Northeasterners. People aged 22-44 were most likely to purchase a home within a mile from a cannabusiness, while those 55-64 were least likely.
The survey also found that home prices in states, including Washington, D.C., that legalized cannabis also increased – some more dramatically than others – in the years following legalization. Home prices in most legal states, save for Michigan, were also above the national average.
“Colorado and Washington both legalized weed in 2012; since then, property values in both states have doubled. … After legalizing recreational marijuana, home prices grew at rates above the national average in 60% of states: Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Michigan, Maine, Nevada.” – The Zebra, Marijuana Real Estate: How Recreational Pot is Impacting the Neighborhood
A RE/MAX report focused on Canadian real estate last year found cannabis legalization increased home prices and led to home shortages in some regions.
Academic studies are mixed on whether crime increases in neighborhoods with legal cannabis shops. A 2019 City University of New York study published in the Justice Evaluation Journal, focused on Colorado, found that property crime, such as burglary and theft, rose 18% on street segments where adult-use dispensaries opened, while street segments adjacent to the dispensaries saw drug crimes increase by about 28%, and “disorder” crimes (like criminal mischief and graffiti) rose 17%. However, a study published September 2020 in the Journal of Regional Science and Urban Economics – focused on Denver – implied a reduction in crimes in neighborhoods with dispensaries of about 17 crimes per month per 10,000 residents which “corresponds to roughly a 19 percent decline relative to the average crime rate over the sample period.”
A 2019 study conducted by the University of Colorado at Denver found crime around dispensaries increased initially but fell over time.
A 2020 National Association of Realtors survey found 33% of respondents indicated there had been no perception of an increase in crime around dispensaries.
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