The Influence of Hate Crimes on New York's Housing Markets

• In Event: Poster Session: Legislative Studies & American Political Economy
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: American Political Economy

Abstract

Home purchasing is one of the most economically consequential decisions a person can make.  Yet, our understanding of the various sociopolitical factors that influence a person’s decision to purchase a home is limited.  In this paper, we examine the influence of hate crimes on the housing market—namely, the relationship between the incidence of reported hate crimes and housing prices. Relying on data from 2019-2022 in New York State, we demonstrate that felony hate crimes are associated with lower housing prices—an 1 percent increase in hate crime rate per 1000 individuals is associated with a 1.05 percent decrease in housing prices, after controlling for county level fixed effects.  Thus, not only do hate crimes have detrimental social, political, and psychological consequences for the immediate victim and their community, but hate crimes also have economic consequences. While previous studies have examined the political consequences of hate crimes, to our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the negative relationship between hate crimes and the housing market.

Authors

• zhaosheng li

• Yuhan Zheng, Princeton University

• Lafleur Stephens