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, past 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:
You can read the “Gayborhood Watch” story on Trulia.com here. For an overview of the LGBT Home Buyer and Seller Survey, click here.
Tags: gay marriage, gayborhood, marriage equality, NAGLREP, National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals, same-sex marriage, Steve Redmond