Residential Construction Trends of Columbus in One Graph




We’ve been hearing a lot the last few years about how residential construction has largely turned toward the rental variety, and no more so than in the urban areas. I have tried to document the level of activity in the city in my development page, but it doesn’t quite show what’s going on in the city overall. I did a little research and found some surprising realities that fully support the rental boom. The residential construction trends of Columbus have changed significantly in recent years.

Here is a graph of annual housing construction permits from 2004-2013 broken down by multi-family and single-family types.

The chart above is based on the # of units, not the number of overall projects.

So what do the numbers say? Well, it raises some interesting questions. First, was the amount of single-family home construction on the decline before 2004 given the downward trend from that year through 2005? And was multi-family construction on the rise during the same period? Did the recession merely interrupt a trend that began more than a decade ago and resurfaced strongly in recent years? It’s hard to say for sure as I don’t have information before 2004, but regardless, it is clear that multi-family construction is the preferred residential preference right now by builders. Single-family home construction, however, has remained steady and well below its previous peak of the last decade.

This continued low level of single-family construction has likely contributed to the fact that area sales in that market have been down for several months now due to a lack of inventory. Prices, however, have risen.



Housing Market Update February 2014



housing market update February 2014 Columbus, Ohio

Unfortunately, I have been unable to update this site for about a month, but I am back now and have quite a bit to add. First, I have the numbers for the local Housing Market Update February 2014. Due to changes in the way the numbers were gotten, January’s were not available. I still do them for 21 major areas of Franklin County, however, and here they are. As always, the data is from Columbus Realtors.

Top 10 February 2014 Sales Totals
1. Columbus: 535
2. Grove City: 39
3. Westerville: 36
4. Upper Arlington: 33
5. Dublin: 31
6. Hilliard: 30
7. Reynoldsburg: 29
8. Clintonville: 28
9. Gahanna: 23
10. Downtown: 14

Top 10 February 2014 Sales Increases over February 2013
1. Obetz: +200.0%
2. Westerville: +38.5%
3. Grove City: +14.7%
4. German Village: +10.0%
5. Hilliard: +7.1%
6. Gahanna: +0.0%
7. New Albany: +0.0%
8. Upper Arlington: +0.0%
9. Whitehall: +0.0%
10. Downtown: -6.7%

Top 10 Year-to-Date Sales Through February 2014
1. Columbus: 1,076
2. Dublin: 72
3. Grove City: 65
4. Clintonville: 62
5. Reynoldsburg: 59
6. Westerville: 59
7. Upper Arlington: 55
8. Hilliard: 54
9. Gahanna: 40
10. Canal Winchester: 29

Top 10 Year-to-Date Increases Through February 2014 Over 2013
1. Obetz: +300.0%
2. Pataskala: +20.8%
3. Worthington: +8.0%
4. German Village: +6.7%
5. Reynoldsburg: +3.5%
6. Grove City: +3.2%
7. Westerville: -1.7%
8. Hilliard: -1.8%
9. Clintonville: -6.1%
10. Columbus: -6.8%

Average Sales February 2014
Urban: 60.1
Suburban: 22.9
Urban without Columbus: 12.6

Average % Change February 2014 vs. February 2013
Urban: -1.1%
Suburban: -7.1%
Urban without Columbus: -0.2%

Average YTD Sales Through February 2014
Urban: 120
Suburban: 45.1
Urban without Columbus: 24.4

Average YTD % Change YTD Through February 2014
Urban: +11.8%
Suburban: -9.4%
Urban without Columbus: +13.7%

Top 10 Average Sales Price February 2014
1. New Albany: $641,524
2. Bexley: $460,307
3. Upper Arlington: $378,852
4. Dublin: $334,967
5. Grandview: $318,667
6. Downtown: $302,720
7. German Village: $232,014
8. Worthington: $227,422
9. Westerville: $209,149
10. Hilliard: $199,724

Top 10 Average Sales Price % Change February 2014 vs. February 2013
1. Grandview: +68.6%
2. Pataskala: +47.1%
3. Upper Arlington: +46.5%
4. Bexley: +46.1%
5. Pickerington: +28.6%
6. Westerville: +25.9%
7. Obetz: +25.0%
8. Reynoldsburg: +19.9%
9. Canal Winchester: +17.6%
10. Hilliard: +13.1%

Top 10 Average Sales Prices YTD Through February 2014
1. New Albany: $515,036
2. Bexley: $418,680
3. Upper Arlington: $343,026
4. Dublin: $326,231
5. Downtown: $314,042
6. German Village: $309,343
7. Grandview: $251,136
8. Worthington: $231,133
9. Westerville: $205,636
10. Hilliard: $200,965

Top 10 Average YTD Sales Price % Change Through February 2014 vs. 2013
1. Pataskala: +36.2%
2. Whitehall: +35.5%
3. Bexley: +31.7%
4. Grandview: +26.1%
5. German Village: +22.2%
6. Downtown: +20.0%
7. Pickerington: +18.3%
8. Westerville: +15.8%
9. Canal Winchester: +15.2%
10. Reynoldsburg: +15.1%

Average Sales Price February 2014
Urban: $228,596
Suburban: $235,812
Urban without Columbus: $239,422

Average Sales Price Change February 2014 vs. February 2013
Urban: +15.9%
Suburban: +17.1%
Urban without Columbus: +16.9%

Average Sales Price YTD
Urban: $222,639
Suburban: $220,917
Urban without Columbus: $232,886

Average Sales Price % Change YTD
Urban: +13.0%
Suburban: +13.3%
Urban without Columbus: +13.0%

Top 10 Fastest Selling Markets February 2014 (Based on Average # of Days for Listings to Sell)
1. Grandview: 39
2. Clintonville: 57
3. Obetz: 62
4. Worthington: 70
5. Pataskala: 74
6. Hilliard: 78
7. Upper Arlington: 83
8. Westerville: 88
9. Pickerington: 89
10. Columbus: 91

Top 10 Fastest Selling Markets YTD
1. Worthington: 50
2. Grandview: 58
3. Pickerington: 60
4. Clintonville: 64
5. Obetz: 64
6. Hilliard: 66
7. Whitehall: 66
8. Upper Arlington: 73
9. Gahanna: 85
10. Westerville: 87

Average # of Days Before Sale, February 2014
Urban: 86.2
Suburban: 104.4
Urban without Columbus: 85.7

Average # of Days Before Sale YTD
Urban: 81.1
Suburban: 89.1
Urban without Columbus: 80.4

Top 10 Lowest Market Housing Supplies (Based on # of Months to Sell all Listings)
1. Worthington: 1.0
2. Hilliard: 1.6
3. Upper Arlington: 1.7
4. Westerville: 1.7
5. Clintonville: 1.8
6. Gahanna: 1.9
7. German Village: 1.9
8. Grandview: 2.0
9. Obetz: 2.2
10. Bexley and Dublin: 2.4

A healthy housing supply is considered to be around 5 months. Anything less than 3 months is considered very low.

Average # of Months to Sell All Listings, February 2014
Urban: 2.3
Suburban: 2.9
Urban without Columbus: 2.3

Average % Change of Single-Family Home Sales February 2014 vs. February 2013
Urban: +15.0%
Suburban: -7.7%
Urban without Columbus: +17.0%

Average % Change of Single-Family Home Sales YTD vs. YTD 2013
Urban: +3.0%
Suburban: -10.3%
Urban without Columbus: +4.0%

Average % Change of Condo Sales February 2014 vs. February 2013
Urban: -21.0%
Suburban: +7.0%
Urban without Columbus: -21.8%

Average % Change of Condo Sales YTD vs. YTD 2013
Urban: +20.6%
Suburban: +23.7%
Urban without Columbus: +23.0%