Recreational marijuana laws could be responsible for higher property values
There is apparently an easy way to add $6,000 to your home’s value. A new report indicates that states that have legalized recreational marijuana have higher property values than do those where the plant is still illegal. While it isn’t clear if the increase is a direct result of legalized recreational use, it is still an interesting observation that can’t be ignored.
Clever Real Estate conducted a study recently and found that legal marijuana states have property values $6,000 higher than non-legal states. The company bases its findings on price data available through the Zillow real estate website.
The research showed that homeowners in legal states saw their property values increase by $6,337, on average, from 2017 to 2019. Where retail marijuana dispensaries are easily accessible, the increase was even more – as much as $23,000 over the past five years.
The findings show that previous concern about real estate prices in legalized jurisdictions was completely wrong. As opposed to seeing a deterioration, as had been predicted, communities are seeing a substantial appreciation once marijuana is legalized in their area.
The report asserts, “The first two states to legalize recreational cannabis, Colorado and Washington, enjoyed the biggest increases of all since changing legislation to allow adult use cannabis sales and consumption in 2012,” adding, “Since Denver [Colorado] retail dispensaries opened their doors on January 1, 2014, residential property values have increased 67.8%, the most significant growth in over two decades.”
Clever concludes, “Real estate investors can find blazing housing markets in cities where recreational cannabis is legalized.”