Abstract

We investigate the link between housing prices and food desert locations at census-tract level using house price index data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency and information on food desert locations from the United States Department of Agriculture. The results from two-way fixed effects regressions suggest that house prices in census tracts classified as food desert are, on average, 2.128 units lower than tracts not classified as such. Robustness tests employing an extended estimation sample corroborate this finding. Inquiries into leading and lagging effects to elucidate causality indicate that food deserts exert a significant impact on real estate, underscoring the importance of food access concerns in urban planning and housing policy design.

Presenters

Kathleen Kürschner Rauck
Assistant Professor, Swiss Institute of Banking and Finance, University of St.Gallen, Switzerland

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

Food, Politics, and Cultures

KEYWORDS

Food Deserts, House Prices, Urban Planning

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