It’s time we talk about crime
by Timothy Inklebarger February 07, 2022
If ever there were a third rail of residential real estate, it would have to be the topic of crime. The radioactive issue and its relationship to residential real estate has been a troubling topic for agents for decades. But how is it impacting the bottom line now?
It’s an issue that is so sensitive the federal Fair Housing Act establishes parameters for how brokers can discuss it with their clients. And while prospective homebuyers have always asked questions about the safety of the area they’re considering moving to, the topic has become even more prevalent since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic that helped spawn a nationwide surge in crime.
Whether or not rising crime rates are impacting sales on a large scale is difficult to ascertain — some markets, such as luxury condos along the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, for example, have taken an undeniable hit — but brokers in markets across the country give mixed responses when asked whether it’s hurting their bottom line. The economic impact of crime on real estate is even more difficult to pinpoint in the current market, when many residential brokers are enjoying the best years of their careers.
Broaching a delicate subject
The aforementioned Fair Housing Act guidelines aim to prevent “steering,” a term used to describe agents who encourage buyers toward — or more importantly, away from — communities based on race, religion and a number of other protected classes.
But the issue is just as relevant now as it was when the federal law was passed in 1968. Case in point: The online brokerage Redfin, along with Realtor.com, announced in December the decision to remove neighborhood crime data from their websites. Trulia, a subsidiary of online broker Zillow, also pulled its crime data about a week later.
Redfin Chief Growth Officer Christian Taubman wrote in a Dec. 13 press release that the data available fails to…