The Value of Historic District Status in Georgia

The designation of historic districts is a popular policy tool for promoting the preservation of neighborhoods and culturally significant areas as well as for economic development. Designation of a specific geographic area as a historic district may take place at the federal level through the National Register of Historic Places, the state level, or the local level. This report separately analyzes the effects on property values of being in a historic district that becomes listed on the National Register and being in one that is designated as a local historic district. Using detailed data on district boundaries and parcel-level transactions data from 1990-2015 for Fulton and DeKalb counties, this research documents the change in property values by type of historic district. The estimates suggest single-family residential property values increased by 13-14 percent in historic districts after becoming listed on the National Register and by approximately 7 percent in historic districts after being designated as a local historic district.The estimated effects in this report suggest fears of negative property value effects associated with local historic designation or listing on the National Register are unwarranted