It’s been heard in probably every city in America: “We can’t build low-income housing here, because it will hurt our property values.” It’s an argument we hear from middle- and upper-class homeowners, usually buffered by reassurances of the ultimate importance of low-income housing – just not in their neighborhoods. But now a new analysis from Trulia is saying that’s nonsense.

From 1996 to 2006 – a pre-crisis timeframe selected specifically to ensure prices “reflect consistent comparisons around the time a project (was) completed and ready for occupancy” – more than 3,000 low-income housing projects, all funded through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, were developed in the nation’s 20 least affordable real estate markets. And in nearly every instance, home prices within 4,000 feet of the projects were unaffected.

In Miami, there are a number of low-income housing developments.

And as the below graph illustrates, the inclusion of those low-income housing developments has had zero effect on how surrounding home values appreciated in Miami:

In fact, on average, homes appreciated more quickly in the 10 years following the erection of an LIHTC development than in the 10 years preceding; Miami’s rapid appreciation, though, may have more to do with overall market forces and not the inclusion of low-income housing.

Trulia’s findings come at a truly opportune time, as Miami is currently facing a serious affordability problem. One study found that middle-class families in Miami-Dade County are spending over 70 percent of their incomes on transportation and housing – costs that have increased 47 percent since 2000, compared to only a 21 percent increase in wages.

Additional low-income housing will not eliminate the more fundamental problems facing Miami’s market, like an excess of cash and wealthy foreign buyers. But it would provide viable options for middle-class locals who have been priced out of their own markets.