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Sponsor Content: Finding a Place to Call Home: Five Housing Trends in Ohio

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As Ohio's housing markets continue to thrive, what are the factors that the average person should look for when considering whether to buy a home? Here are five housing trends happening in Ohio:

The following content is provided by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.

Housing inventory is decreasing, home prices are rising and the housing market remains a complicated topic with a number of factors affecting peoples’ ability to purchase homes. As Ohio’s housing markets continue to thrive, what are the factors that the average person should look for when considering whether to buy a home? Here are five housing trends happening in Ohio:

  1. Home sale prices are rising.

Across Ohio, existing home sales continue to rise. In 2016, the average sales price was just over $163,000; in 2017, the average home sold for nearly $173,000. This shows a five percent increase in a single year, which reflects Ohioans’ increasing desire to own a home.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Ohio’s current homeownership rate is 63.9 percent, which is a historically high homeownership rate. For reference, in 1965, the homeownership rate was also around 63 percent, and in 1979, the homeownership rate was just below 66 percent.

  1. Housing inventory is low statewide.

The increase in housing prices is partially due to low housing inventory. According to Jonathan Duy, Real Estate Relations Manager at the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, a healthy housing market should have a six-month supply of housing, meaning that the current pace of home sales should be able to continue for six months without depleting the supply of for-sale homes. Housing markets in Ohio are falling well below this standard. In Cincinnati, there is less than a two-and-a-half month supply, and in Toledo, there is enough supply for just over 100 days.

In Columbus, there is only a 1.3-month supply of housing. According to Realtor.com’s monthly “hotness index,” Columbus was the nation’s fourth hottest real-estate market in April. This index measures several factors, including the number of times online listings are viewed, housing supply and the length of time a house is on the market.

  1. Millennials are the largest home buying generation.

According to the National Association of Realtors, millennials, born between the years of 1981 and 1996, make up 34 percent of all homebuyers. However, when previous generations reached the same age range as millennials, their homeownership rate was higher.

Some millennials cite student loan debt and low wages as obstacles to purchasing homes, preventing them from saving enough money for a down payment. For example, the average student loan debt in 2016 was over three times the amount it was in 1993.

Other research states that lifestyle choices, such as delaying marriage, are the reason for the lower homeownership rate. In 1960, the median age at first marriage was 22 for men and 20 for women; in 2017, men first married around 29 and women around 27.

  1. First-time homebuyers are struggling to enter the housing market.

The first-time homebuyer rate is still under the historical norm of 40 percent; in 2016, only 35 percent of homebuyers were first-timers, according to the National Association of Realtors. In 2017, that number decreased to 34 percent. In 2017, the typical first-time buyer was 31 years old.

  1. More people still want to live in the suburbs than in urban areas.

Despite frequent discussions of walkable, urban neighborhoods, more people, including millennials, prefer to live in the suburbs. According to the National Association of Realtors, 66 percent of millennials want to live in the suburbs, versus 10 percent in the city center. Furthermore, between the years of 2014 and 2015, the share of millennials buying in an urban or central city area decreased by four percent.

For more information on the homebuying process and available financial assistance for Ohioans, visit the Ohio Housing Finance Agency’s website.

As the state’s leader in affordable housing, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency offers a variety of programs to help homebuyers, renters, senior citizens and others find quality housing that meets their needs. The Agency also works with developers and property managers of affordable housing throughout the state to improve Ohio’s housing.

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