Assessing the property value impacts of the dispersed housing subsidy program in Denver

This study tests the hypothesis that the acquisition of existing property by the public housing authority & its subsequent rehabilitation & occupancy by subsidized tenants significantly reduced the property values of surrounding single-family homes in Denver during the 1990s. This assessment examined pre- & post-occupancy sales, while controlling for the idiosyncratic neighborhood, local public service, & zoning characteristics of the areas in order to identify which sorts of neighborhoods, if any, experienced declining property values as a result of proximity to dispersed housing tenants. The analyses revealed that proximity to a subsidized housing site generally had an independent, positive effect on single-family home sales prices. The most notable exception to this pattern occurred in neighborhoods more than 20 percent of whose residents were black. Proximity to dispersed public housing sites in these neighborhoods resulted in slower growth in home sales prices in an other-wise booming housing market & suggest a threshold within vulnerable neighborhoods whereby any potential gains associated with rehabilitating existing units are offset by the increased concentration of poor residents. 2 Tables, 3 Figures, 50 References. [Copyright 2001 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.]