Gay couples push house prices up

We have a gay neighbour.

Also, the last place we lived in was next door to John Jolliff and Des Smith, the gay poster boys for civil unions.



So when I read that gay couples moving into an area increases house prices, all I can say is bring it on!. Shihe Fu estimates [PDF} that a rise of one percentage point in the proportion of same-sex couples living in an area raises median house prices by 9 per cent even 10 years later.

But will that convince Australians, who generally don`t like living next to gay couples?

Perhaps gay couples have nicer curtains. Perhaps they are just great neighbours. Whatever, gays are good if you are getting ready to sell, but are bad if you are looking to buy - except of course if you are a gay couple looking to buy, in which case you`ll get a bargain.