Photo: James Bombales
Ever since the federal government announced its plans for legalizing marijuana, there have been rumblings about how it could affect the Canadian housing market. Would proximity to dispensaries, or growing weed at home, affect property values? According to a new report, the answer to at least one of those questions is yes.
In a new nationwide survey from Zoocasa, 47 per cent of respondents said that even a legal amount of marijuana grown in a home would reduce their desire to buy the property. That number spiked to 52 per cent in Quebec, and dropped to 31 per cent in Atlantic Canada.
“There is still as stigma when it comes to growing marijuana in the home,” Zoocasa managing editor Penelope Graham tells BuzzBuzzNews. “It’s very telling that residents would respond this way to this question.”
Only 32 per cent of respondents said that having marijuana dispensaries nearby would reduce the value of homes nearby. A further 39 per cent felt that increased marijuana use in homes would decrease property values.
According to Graham, these responses highlight a potential grey area when it comes to the insurance industry.
“I think the takeaway for homeowners should be that even once it’s legal you may not be protected,” she says. “Insurers and lenders may consider homes where it has been grown to be stigmatized, and may not want to offer full coverage or financing.”
Graham says that the onus is on the homeowner to contact their insurer, to fully understand their position before growing marijuana in their homes.
But the stigma may start to fade over time. The survey also found that 19 per cent of Millennial respondents said they would consider growing a legal amount of marijuana on their property, nearly twice as much as the Boomer generation, at 11 per cent.
