“Hiding” in Plain Sight: Effect of Homebuyer Awareness of Sex Offenders onto Home Selling Prices

• In Event: Safety and the Consequences of Imprisonment

Abstract

As stigmatized persons, registered sex offenders have been suggested to be disruptors to the ecological dynamics of communities and associated with depressed home sale prices; at the same time, sex offender literature has demonstrated that the public is largely unaware of the presence of local registered sex offenders. Survey distribution occurred in three waves to single-family households sold in 2015 in three Midwestern U.S. counties classified as rural, suburban, and urban to gauge awareness of local registered sex offenders, with homebuyers dichotomized via the awareness of registered sex offenders. All rural-based homebuyers were selected as respondents, all suburban-based homebuyers who are within 1,000 feet of a registered sex offender, and a randomly selected sample of urban-based homebuyers who are within 1,000 feet of a registered sex offender. Regression analyses were performed to explore whether homebuyer awareness of registered sex offenders functions as a moderator between the distance of the nearest registered sex offender and home sale values, and to explore whether the distance coefficients statistically varied within awareness between county setting. The implications of these findings are discussed regarding sex offender policies.

Author

• John Charles Navarro, University of Louisville