The notion of a “haunted” house may sound sensational, yet for appraisers it represents a legitimate valuation challenge. At Baldwin Appraisal Services, LLC, we often encounter situations where buyer perception—not physical condition—drives market behavior. Few examples illustrate this better than 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York, the site of the infamous Amityville Horror.
A stigmatized property is one that suffers market resistance due to psychological or emotional factors unrelated to its construction or utility. The Appraisal Institute’s AO-9 categorizes such conditions as detrimental influences requiring evidence-based analysis.
The 1991 “Ghostbusters” case, Stambovsky v. Ackley, established that if a seller publicly promotes a haunting, that reputation becomes material to value. In other words, public perception itself can alter market value, even when the building remains structurally sound.
Address: 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, NY 11701 (later renumbered 108 Ocean Avenue).
Background: In 1974, six members of the DeFeo family were murdered in the home. The following year, George and Kathy Lutz purchased it for $80,000 (approximately $430,000 in 2025 dollars). Within a month they fled—claiming supernatural disturbances—sparking The Amityville Horror book (1977) and the subsequent films.
| Year | Reported Price | Context | Market Commentary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | $80,000 | Lutz family purchase, post-murders | 5 bedrooms, 3½ baths; a discount vs. neighborhood peers at ~$90–100K. |
| 1977–1997 | ~$55,000 – ~$310,000 (resales) | Multiple owners | Modest appreciation; stigma held values below the local median for years. |
| 2010 | $950,000 | Restored colonial | Sold below its earlier $1.15M asking; renovations and time softened the stigma. |
| 2012 | Relisted $1.35M → $955K (did not sell) | Owners citing divorce | Ambitious ask; withdrawn without a sale. |
| 2016 | Listed $850,000 | Coldwell Banker listing | Repriced to meet the market. |
| Feb 2017 | $605,000 (verified) | Conventional buyer | Closed roughly 29% below the $850K ask—evidence the stigma discount persisted even decades later. |
Sources: NBC News / CNBC (2016 listing); 6sqft and LI Haunted Houses (Feb 2017 sale); Biography.com (2025); Newsday and New York Times real-estate archives.
Initial sales following the murders reflected a temporary stigma discount of roughly 10–15 percent, consistent with studies on psychologically impacted properties. By the 1990s, renovations, the passage of time, and a deliberate address change had diluted the effect. Yet the 2017 sale—closing well below asking—shows the stigma never vanished entirely; it moderated. This trajectory illustrates the “time-decay principle” often cited in the Appraisal Journal and AO-9: as publicity subsides and physical quality improves, stigma diminishes but can leave a measurable residue.
Market reaction, not folklore, determines measurable value impact.
In a recent internal Baldwin Appraisal Services case study, a Victorian home of similar vintage with a regional haunting reputation yielded the following:
| Data Source | Result | Adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline non-stigmatized value | $640,000 | — |
| Stigmatized paired-sales set | $575,000 – $605,000 | –5% to –10% |
| Agent/buyer survey | 7% mean expected discount | — |
| Final indicated value (as-is) | $592,000 (rounded) | –7.5% stigma adjustment |
The discount closely mirrors the early Amityville resales and broader academic findings on stigmatized housing.
The story of the Amityville Horror proves that even extreme stigma can fade over time—while the property’s 2017 sale below asking reminds us the effect can linger for decades. At Baldwin Appraisal Services, LLC, our responsibility is not to judge the paranormal but to interpret how market participants react to perception—and to translate that behavior into a credible opinion of value. Haunted or not, every property deserves an appraisal grounded in evidence, transparency, and USPAP-compliant analysis.
© 2025 Baldwin Appraisal Services, LLC | All rights reserved | For educational purposes only — not legal advice.