There’s been a fair share of NIMBY sentiments in state’s that have legalized marijuana for medical and/or recreational use. However, a new study funded by the New Jersey State Policy lab and published by Rutgers University shows that legal cannabis businesses can actually increase property values.
The study’s researchers reported that municipalities that licensed legal cannabis businesses had a nearly two percent increase in home sales prices as compared to properties in towns that had banned cannabis businesses from operating.
And while the authors cautioned that they cannot fully confirm that allowing a cannabis retailer to operate directly impacts local housing prices, they did acknowledge that, “allowing cannabis-related businesses does not negatively impact home sales prices.”
Positive Impacts
In the study’s Executive Study, the authors’ write, “In terms of policy recommendations, our results suggest state and local policymakers can be cautiously optimistic about the short-run impacts of allowing cannabis-related businesses in their jurisdictions. We find no evidence of a negative impact on property sale prices following the decision to allow cannabis-related businesses.”
