Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

Spring 4-11-2014

Keywords

sex offenders, real estate, McLean County Illinois

Abstract

Borrowing from the broken windows theory, this paper addresses the impact of sex offenders’ residences on neighborhood’s property values in McLean County, Illinois. Three data sets were combined to explore the relationship: the addresses of registered sex offenders (RSOs) in McLean County, Illinois, the location and property characteristics of homes sold in McLean County between December 2012 to December 2013, and variables from the 2010 U.S. Census. ArcGIS was utilized to create buffers up to 0.2 of a mile around a sold home to measure the concentration of RSOs and sexual predators (SPs) and to calculate the distance from the nearest RSO and SP. The results indicate that as RSO and SP concentration increased, home selling prices decreased by $6,586 for each RSO and $9,098 for each SP within the buffer. In regards of distance, RSOs and SPs negatively impacted home selling prices the closer they were to a home sale transaction. These findings inform the debate surrounding the requirements placed on sexual offender registration, community notification, and residency restrictions.

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