Hearing concerns that affordable housing negatively affects the communities property values, here are some research results which should ease any misgivings. There is evidence to suggest that the impact is minimal, if at all. Mai Nguyen, Associate Professor at UNC Chapel Hill in the Department of City and Regional Planning, conducted a literature review of quantitative studies, concluding with the following findings: 1. Affordable housing is not as significant as other variables influencing property values, 2. The equality of construction in comparison to surrounding housing does impact property values, both positively and negatively, 3. When there are many affordable housing projects in close proximity, there is a greater potential for decreased property values.
While finding #1 seems to be an obvious consequence of real life, the other two would be beneficial for our planning. #2 is an invaluable guidance for the future blueprint phase of the project, this is reinforced by the Medford research cited below which found that design and management of the complex were strong factors on the neighborhood impact. Finally, #3 would result in minimal impact since our project would be the only one in the immediate area.
Other findings are by the National Association of Realtors which in 2003, 2017, and most recently, 2022 conducted surveys in multiple states. The results indicate that “affordable housing has a positive if not zero effect on property values.” Regionally a composite report in Medford, OR, citing several research studies, found “empirical research that there was little evidence that subsidized housing depresses neighborhood property values and conversely have been associated with an immediate positive increase.”