The Impact of Selected Aesthetic Building Restrictions on Georgia’s Single-Family Housing Markets

Abstract

This paper analyzes the economic impact that selected “look and feel” or aesthetic building restrictions have on housing prices and housing availability in Georgia counties. We model the median value of homes using ordinary least squares, and as a robustness check, we also use a partial least squares structural equations model. We also estimate a supply of housing, as measured by single family housing permits, using a negative binomial regression. We find that aesthetic building restrictions do not have a statistically significant impact on the value of single-family homes or their supply.