Dive Brief:
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Unrest in Ferguson, MO, has claimed another casualty: Home prices have dropped by more than 8% since the summer, when police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown, local Realtors told FOX Business Network.
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As protests became violent after a grand jury failed to indict Wilson in Brown’s death last week, Realtors said they expect prices to fall by at least another 15%.
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Sales are off as well: Since Aug. 9—the day of the shooting, home sales in Ferguson are down by 32%. A Coldwell Banker agent told FOX Business that homes for sale in the St. Louis suburb are sitting on the market for eight months before selling, compared with four months within St. Louis.
Dive Insight:
It’s no surprise that house hunters would shy away from buying in a community where sometimes-violent protests have become a fixture on the streets. Ferguson, home to about 21,000 people, was already suffering from the lingering effects of the recession, with almost one-fifth of families living below the poverty level.
FOX quoted Paul Eisley, chairman of the economics department at Grand Valley State University: “At the very least, there will be some real short-term impacts [on housing prices]. The expectation would be that the impact is short term, unless there is a permanent impact on jobs."
