Health Crisis and Housing Market Effects - Evidence from the U.S. Opioid Epidemic

Abstract

We present evidence on the effect of a public health crisis on housing markets through the lens of the recent opioid crisis in the U.S. Using data on opioid prescriptions and repeat sales in Ohio, we find that house price changes around opioid dispensaries are negatively associated with the quantity of opioids dispensed. To explore a causal inference, we use a potentially cleaner measure of supply that is based on vertical integration. We estimate that a one standard deviation increase in the standardized number of pills dispensed by vertically integrated pharmacies is associated with a 5.8% decrease in house price appreciation. Our work informs the broader policy discussion on economic costs resulting from health crises.