Restrictions versus amenities: the differential impact of home owners associations on property marketability

Common-interest developments (CIDs) or planned urban developments (PUDs) can include a multitude of property types such as condos, townhomes, coops and single-family residences. Many such developments are privately governed by a homeowners' association (HOA) and managed by an HOA board of directors comprised of community homeowners. While such communities and their governing bodies have been widely criticised for their onerous rules, regulations and exclusionary practices, many argue that the amenities, benefits and utility afforded to its members provide a large degree of satisfaction for homeowners. In fact, one of the purposes of an HOA is to preserve and enhance home values by creating an environment with minimal negative externalities. Although it is generally assumed that an HOA does add value, these associations have also generated a number of controversial disputes. This paper examines the effects of an HOA on marketability to empirically shed light on the question of whether buyers find HOAs to be beneficial or burdensome. The results show that the impact of the HOA on price, marketing time and probability of sale are not even across price segments and exist even after controlling for the presence of gated communities.