OSU Study of PA Data Shows No Housing Crisis in Shale Country

How many  times have we heard (and believed) that when drilling comes to town, higher housing prices, specifically rent, comes along too. A quick influx of people for a relatively fixed inventory of housing and voilà--high rents. In fact, MDN previously highlighted a study in November 2011 by a cabal of PA colleges that issued a 200-page report on how shale drilling was causing a "housing crisis" in northeastern PA (see New Study Claims Housing Crisis in NE PA from Gas Drilling). But what's this? Researchers at Ohio State University, understandably concerned that a housing shortage may be on the way in eastern Ohio, studied the PA data for 2007-2011, the first four years of PA's drilling boom. Using government data (objective and unbiased, from the Dept. of Housing & Urban Development), OSU researchers found, "...in Pennsylvania, counties experiencing the most shale-related development saw little change in fair market rents...housing vacancy rates and median home values." A full copy of the OSU report debunking the "shale drilling creates a housing crisis" meme is embedded below.

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