Will Legalizing Gay Marriage Have a Positive Impact on Housing?

In his HousingWire.com article “Here’s how gay marriage will improve housing“, Trey Garrison shared excerpts from a November 2011 study supporting the proposition that same-sex couples increase home values.

He also cited a June 2015 Trulia.com report that “over the last three years, home prices in gay men neighborhoods have grown by an average of 23%.” But do these statistics support Garrison’s theory that the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of same-sex marriage will stimulate the housing market?

“I don’t believe the advent of National Gay Marriage will suddenly improve the housing market,” said Steve Redmond, Steve Redmond_75x75past president of the Tucson Association of REALTORS® and member of the National Association of REALTORS® Diversity Committee. “Although many of the revelations as to value and gentrification mentioned in the Housingwire.com article have been credited to the entire Gay Community, generalizations made from a few statistics are both disappointing and dangerous.”

Redmond, who is also a member of The National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals (NAGLREP), went on to say that LGBT customers “have the same questions and concerns that all buyers and sellers have, but their motivation can be a little different.”

A recent NAGLREP survey of nearly 2,000 LGBT home buyers and sellers provided some key insights:

  • 81% feel that Marriage Equality will make them feel more fiscally protected and confident
  • 73% are strongly concerned about housing discrimination by REALTORS®, home sellers and landlords
  • 56% are motivated to purchase a new home by getting married to a partner
  • 54% own some type of real estate and 8% own a vacation home
  • 47% who purchased in the past five years were likely to select a REALTOR® who is straight and LGBT-friendly
  • 25% plan to purchase real estate in the next three years

    • You can read the “Gayborhood Watch” story on Trulia.com here. For an overview of the LGBT Home Buyer and Seller Survey, click here.

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