Planning and zoning meetings across Connecticut have been punctuated for decades with public comments to the effect that low-income housing will, should the commission dare allow for the introduction of such housing to their town, lower housing values of incumbent homeowners. The argument might be summarized that low-income housing development, by its very proximity to existing homes, reduces the sale value of this homes, thereby imposing, in effect, an additional property tax on the incumbents.

My analysis of the data demonstrates otherwise.

My calculations –including the density of low-income housing throughout Connecticut and housing price changes in each zip code that includes low-income housing, from 2010-2021 — demonstrate that, in fact, housing values in communities where low-income housing is built rise, not fall, faster than housing values in the rest of the state.

Low-income housing boosts CT’s local real estate values, Dan Smolnik, CT Mirror, July 28, 2022, available here