JUE Insight: The (Non-)Effect of Opportunity Zones on Housing Prices

Abstract

Will the Opportunity Zones (OZ) program, America's largest new place-based policy in decades, generate neighborhood change? We compare single-family housing price growth in OZs with price growth in areas that were eligible but not included in the program. We also compare OZs to their nearest geographic neighbors. Our most credible estimates rule out price impacts greater than 0.5 percentage points with 95% confidence, suggesting that, so far, home buyers don't believe that this subsidy will generate major neighborhood change. OZ status reduces prices in areas with little employment, perhaps because buyers think that subsidizing new investment will increase housing supply. Mixed evidence suggests that OZs may have increased residential permitting.