Legal recreational cannabis is now a reality in Canada, as the long-awaited federal legislation Bill C-45 — the Cannabis Act — mandates that Canadians are now able to consume the drug, grow their own plants, and purchase it from a provincially-regulated retailer.
READ: How To Grow Pot At Home In 5 Easy Steps: Growing Marijuana For Beginners
Today, Zoocasa released the findings of a national study around the perceived impact of cannabis legalization on real estate.
So, while the future is green, so to speak, there remains a big grey area: just how legal cannabis will impact the real estate industry — including homeowners, prospective buyers, renters, and landlords.
Despite the drug’s newly-minted legal status, questions linger over how personal use and cultivation may impact the value, desirability, and even the insurable status of homes for sale.
READ: Plan to Grow Your Own Pot At Home? Here’s What You Need to Know Before You Do
According to a new national survey conducted by Zoocasa, that polled over 1,300 Canadians, sentiments remain largely negative regarding the following issues:
Consumption and cultivation in private residences.
Living in close proximity to where legal cannabis is sold.
Tenant and landlord rights when it comes to the presence of legal cannabis in a rental unit.
Zoocasa's data reveals that most Canadians think smoking cannabis inside their homes is a generally bad idea.
A full 64 per cent of those who indicated they were homeowners felt doing so would harm its resale value, an increase from the 39 per cent who indicated as such in Zoocasa’s previous Housing Trends Report.
READ: Here Are The Rules For Smoking Pot In Ontario While In Public
What's more, over half of homeowners – 57 per cent – felt that growing even the legal amount of cannabis (up to four plants under the Cannabis Act), would have a negative impact on a home’s value.
Prospective home buyers are like-minded: A total of 52 per cent of respondents say they’d be less likely to consider specific houses for sale if they knew even a legal amount of cannabis had been grown in them.
And now that Canadians will be able to purchase the drug legally from a provincially-regulated retailer, homeowners aren’t exactly welcoming dispensaries to the neighbourhood with open arms.
Zoocasa’s findings indicate nearly half of all respondents feel having a cannabis dispensary in the neighbourhood would harm the value of nearby homes.
Plus, 48 per cent of respondents said the presence of a dispensary nearby would reduce their desire to purchase a specific property.
READ: Dog Owners Need To Know About These Cannabis Risks To Canines
However, those who already live by a local dispensary (16 per cent of all respondents) are more likely to be comfortable with the presence of one (58 per cent).
But, of those who don’t currently live close to a dispensary or are not sure if there is a dispensary nearby (84 per cent of all respondents), more than half feel strongly that they would not be comfortable with one coming to their neighbourhood.
These sentiments appear to be cannabis specific.
Ultimately, only 14 per cent of all respondents stated they would feel uncomfortable with a new liquor store opening in their neighbourhood.
Key Findings On How Canada's Homeowners And Renters Really Feel About Legal Cannabis
- 15 per cent of all respondents indicated they would consider in-home cannabis cultivation
- 19 per cent of Millennials, 15 per cent of Gen-Xers, and 11 per cent of Boomers would consider in-home cannabis cultivation
- 52 per cent of respondents say they’d be less likely to consider specific houses for sale if they knew even a legal amount of cannabis had been grown in them
- Only 38 per cent of Millennials indicated that a legal amount of cannabis grown in a home would reduce their desire to buy that property, compared to 58 per cent of Gen-Xers and 59 per cent of Boomers
- 64 per cent of homeowners felt smoking cannabis indoors would harm its resale value, an increase from the 39 per cent who indicated as such in Zoocasa’s previous Housing Trends Report
- 21 per cent do not think smoking will impact home values, and 15 per cent were unsure
- Over half of homeowners — 57 per cent — felt that growing even the legal amount of cannabis (up to four plants under the Cannabis Act), would have a negative impact on a home's value
- 26 per cent disagree and 18 per cent were neutral
- of homeowners who agree home cultivation would harm home values, only six per cent would take the risk of doing so
- 46 per cent of respondents who indicated they are renters agree smoking cannabis in a home would devalue their unit; 33 per cent disagree and 20 per cent are unsure
- 61 per cent of Canadians agree residents should not be able to smoke cannabis within their units
- nearly half of all respondents (42 per cent) feel having a cannabis dispensary in the neighbourhood would harm the value of nearby homes, while 34 per cent disagree and 23 per cent were neutral
