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Study Challenges Longstanding Assumption That Recovery Housing Drives Down Prices

Written by: Jana Satterwhite | Updated: March 02, 2026

Study Challenges Longstanding Assumption That Recovery Housing Drives Down Prices

A new study in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, coauthored by Ryan Ramphul, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, examines whether recovery residences that support individuals recovering from substance use disorders influence property values in Texas communities.

The analysis found no statistically significant relationship between the presence of recovery residences and neighborhood median property values. These findings challenge common community concerns and provide evidence to support zoning decisions, reduce stigma, and strengthen efforts to expand recovery housing.

The study was conducted through Ramphul’s research group, The Place and Health Lab (PAHL), with contributions from graduate research assistants Jooeyon Lee, MS, Yanchen Liu, MPH, and Yixiao Chen, MS.

This study was conducted in collaboration with the School of Public Health Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, the Department of Management, Policy and Community Health, the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences in Dallas, and the UTHealth Institute for Implementation Science.

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Founded in 1967, UTHealth Houston School of Public Health was Texas' first public health school and remains a nationally ranked leader in graduate public health education. Since opening its doors in Houston nearly 60 years ago, the school has established five additional locations across the state, including Austin, Brownsville, Dallas, El Paso, and San Antonio. Across five academic departments — Biostatistics and Data Science; Epidemiology; Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences; Health Promotion and Behavioral Science; and Management, Policy & Community Health — students learn to collaborate, lead, and transform the field of public health through excellence in graduate education.

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