A new analysis by ATTOM Data Solutions looked at how much value homeowners have gained or lost in the past eight years by whether they lived in Democratic congressional districts or Republican ones.
The answer might not be what you’d expect.
Homeowners living in Democrat-controlled congressional districts have gained more than twice as much in housing wealth as homeowners living in Republican-controlled districts over the past eight years, according to the report.
Among 2.4 million single family homes purchased eight years ago, those in Democrat-controlled districts have gained 21 percent, or an average $59,467 in value, since purchase. That compares with a 10 percent gain, or an average of $22,086 in value, for homes in Republican-controlled districts.
That doesn’t quite tell the whole story, however. Homeowners in Republican-controlled districts are paying lower property taxes — $2,514 on average, representing a 1.02 effective tax rate, compared with $3,659 in Democrat-controlled districts, representing a 1.07 percent tax rate.
That trend does not hold in the 11 battleground states in this presidential election, however. Those states are Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
In those states, seven of the 11 have produced better gains in value for homeowners in Republican-controlled districts, led by Michigan (36 percent), New Hampshire (26 percent), Iowa (21 percent) and Ohio (19 percent).
Values grew 51 percent in Colorado Democratic districts, with Virginia, Wisconsin and North Carolina the only other states where Democratic gains outpaced Republican ones.