May Project Updates



May project updates Neighborhood Launch

Just a few May project updates. These represent only a small fraction of what’s going on in terms of local development.

Downtown
1. Neighborhood Launch’s expansion with a pair of new 5-story buildings containing 260 apartments continues. Located on E. Long Street, the buildings’ foundation work has been mostly completed and elevator shafts and the first steel frames are now going up, which means construction should really get going now. The timetable for these to be complete is late fall or winter.
2. Over at Columbus Commons, the Highpoint 300-unit residential project continues and at least one of the buildings is now reaching towards its 6th and final floor.
3. The Liberty Place 200+ unit residential expansion in the Brewery District is getting closer to being done with the external work, as brick and finishes are going on.
4. The mess that is the reconstruction of 670/71 also continues, but we’re still a year or so away from that being done… before the next phase begins closer to the 70/71 section.
5. Work continues on the restoration of the LeVeque Tower, but more details have emerged. Up to 70 residential units will be created in the tower section, along with lower floors having a new boutique hotel and office space. The lobby will be restored to its original 2-story look, and the entrance outside will get new marble, planters and lighting. The terra cotta exterior of the building will take up to 5 more years to complete, as 80 years of grime and damage have to be fixed. The other improvements should be done late this year or early next year.
6. Columbia Gas’ new HQ building in the Arena District has reached it’s maximum 6-story height with steel, but no exterior work is done yet.
7. The Flats II 120-unit residential building next door to that project is seeing exterior work being done and should be done later this summer or early fall. Reports have been coming out showing this and other residential projects nearby have extremely high rental interest already.
8. 600 Goodale, the 5-story 174-unit residential building is seeing exterior work now and should be done by the end of summer or fall.

Short North
1. Aston Place, a new residential project on Hubbard Avenue, is moving along and the elevator shaft is just about done, so steel should be going up soon.
2. The Hubbard project continues to the east. The 5-story, 68-unit residential building is all framed out and exterior work is beginning. The adjoining parking garage is complete and the 4 concealing townhomes should begin construction soon.
3. The Out of the Closet development at 5th and High is well underway, now completely framed out.



Columbus Housing Market April 2013



Columbus housing market April 2013 Columbus, Ohio

The Columbus Board of Realtors released home sales data for April and YTD recently. Their area covers an area a bit larger than the Columbus metro, so I tried to stick with just those areas within it. I also tried to avoid capturing essentially the same area (school district vs city boundary). There are a few exceptions where I wanted to highlight specific areas or neighborhoods of Columbus.

LSD=Local school district
CSD=City school district

Top 10 Home Sales % Change since April 2012
1. Bexley city: +137.5%
2. Sunbury city: +125.0%
3. Delaware LSD: +82.4%
4. Lancaster CSD: +74.2%
5. Hilliard city: +66.7%
6. Marysville CSD: +64.3%
7. Pataskala city: +57.1%
8. London CSD: +50.0%
9. Upper Arlington CSD: +48.9%
10. South-Western CSD: +47.8%

Top 10 Home Sales % Change 2013 Year to Date
1. Sunbury city: +78.6%
2. Lithopolis city: +66.7%
3. Bexley city: +50.0%
4. Gahanna city: +46.1%
5. Hilliard city: +45.5%
6. Delaware CSD: +44.3%
7. Westerville city: +40.3%
8. Whitehall city: +37.5%
9. Marysville CSD: +36.7%
10. Lancaster CSD: +36.0%

Bottom 10 Home Sales % Change since April 2012
1. Powell city: -55.6%
2. Minerva Park city: -50.0%
3. Whitehall city: -42.9%
4. German Village: -36.4%
5. Downtown: -29.6%
6. Obetz city: -20.0%
7. New Albany city: -14.3%
8. Worthington city: -12.5%
9. Grandview Heights city: -11.1%
10. Circleville CSD: -11.1%

Bottom 10 Home Sales % Change 2013 Year to Date
1. Obetz city: -61.9%
2. Granville CSD: -31.3%
3. Worthington city: -11.3%
4. New Albany city: -5.8%
5. Grandview Heights city: -3.7%
6. Valleyview city: 0.0%
7. Powell city: +3.7%
8. Canal Winchester CSD: +3.9%
9. Newark CSD: +10.1%
10. Johnstown CSD: +11.5%

So it looks like, so far… in the urban core, Bexley, Upper Arlington and Whitehall are all having a good sales year, while Worthington and Grandview Heights are not. Downtown had a bad April, but is doing well for the year. Same with German Village. Suburbs performing well include Delaware, Hilliard and Sunbury. Those performing badly include New Albany and Powell.

Top 10 Turnover (Average # of Days on the Market before Sold) in April 2013
1. Valleyview city: 0 Days
2. Plain City CSD: 25 Days
3. Sunbury city: 27 Days
4. German Village: 29 Days
4. Obetz city: 29 Days
4. Worthington city: 29 Days
5. Powell city: 43 Days
6. Upper Arlington CSD: 47 Days
7. Beechwold/Clintonville: 49 Days
8. Gahanna city: 52 Days
8. Pataskala city: 52 Days
9. Lithopolis city: 54 Days
10. Grandview Heights city: 56 Days

Bottom 10 Turnover for April 2013
1. Circleville CSD: 164 Days
2. London CSD: 131 Days
3. Newark CSD: 123 Days
4. Minerva Park city: 116 Days
5. Downtown: 105 Days
6. Marysville CSD: 102 Days
7. Lancaster CSD: 98 Days
8. Delaware CSD: 92 Days
9. Blacklick: 88 Days
10. Bexley city: 80 Days

Top 10 Turnover 2013 Year to Date
1. Worthington city: 42 Days
2. Plain City CSD: 46 Days
3. Obetz city: 48 Days
4. Upper Arlington CSD: 60 Days
5. Pickerington city: 65 Days
6. Pataskala city: 67 Days
6. Whitehall city: 67 Days
7. Beechwold/Clintonville: 68 Days
7. Grandview Heights city: 68 Days
7. Minerva Park city: 68 Days
8. Groveport LSD: 69 Days
8. Reynoldsburg LSD: 69 Days
8. South Western CSD: 69 Days
9. German Village: 70 Days
9. Powell city: 70 Days
9. Westerville city: 70 Days
9. Worthington city: 70 Days
10. Columbus city: 72 Days

Bottom 10 Turnover 2013 Year to Date
1. Valleyview city: 151 Days
2. Circleville CSD: 148 Days
3. Newark CSD: 117 Days
4. London CSD: 115 Days
5. Bexley city: 97 Days
6. Lancaster CSD: 96 Days
7. Delaware CSD: 90 Days
7. Hilliard city: 90 Days
7. New Albany city: 90 Days
8. Johnstown LSD: 89 Days
9. Downtown: 87 Days
9. Lithopolis city: 87 Days
9. Marysville CSD: 87 Days
10. West Jefferson LSD: 86 Days

# of Months Total On-Market Housing Supply Would Last if No Other Homes Became Available, April 2013- Top 10
1. Valleyview city: 1.6 Months
2. Worthington city: 1.8 Months
3. Grandview Heights city: 2.0 Months
4. Upper Arlington CSD: 2.3 Months
5. Sunbury city: 2.5 Months
6. Hilliard city: 2.7 Months
7. Beechwold/Clintonville: 2.8 Months
8. Powell city: 2.9 Months
8. Westerville city: 2.9 Months
9. Gahanna city: 3.1 Months
10. Johnstown LSD: 3.2 Months

And Bottom 10
1. Granville CSD: 9.2 Months
2. London CSD: 8.7 Months
3. Circleville CSD: 8.6 Months
4. Newark CSD: 7.4 Months
5. Pataskala city: 5.9 Months
6. Lancaster CSD: 5.8 Months
7. Obetz city: 5.0 Months
8. South Western CSD: 4.8 Months
9. Canal Winchester CSD, Marysville CSD, New Albany city, Reynoldsburg CSD: 4.6 Months
10. Columbus city, Grove City city: 4.5 Months

With the supply numbers, generally anything around 5 months is considered a healthy supply. Well over and the market is saturated, well under it’s undersupplied. For the record, Downtown’s supply is 4.1 months.

Top 10 Average Sales Price % Change Year to Date
1. Valleyview city: +52.3%
2. Circleville CSD: +29.8%
3. Johnstown LSD: +26.7%
4. Minerva Park city: +23.7%
5. Gahanna city: +22.6%
6. Marysville CSD: +22.3%
7. Downtown: +19.9%
8. Lancaster CSD: +17.6%
9. Reynoldsburg CSD: +14.0%
10. Bexley city: +11.3%

Bottom 10
1. Grandview Heights city: -26.1%
2. Pataskala city: -22.3%
3. Obetz city: -15.6%
4. Granville CSD: -10.9%
5. Sunbury city: -10.8%
6. Blacklick: -10.5%
7. German Village: -5.3%
8. New Albany city: -3.5%
9. Westerville city: -3.2%
10. Plain City LSD: -1.9%

If you don’t see a market listed you’re curious about, check out the April 2013 Market Report may have what you’re looking for.



Cool Link Mortgage Interest Deduction



mortgage interest deduction

Okay, maybe not the coolest link, but still…
The Mortgage Interest Deduction is basically a government subsidy that specifically targets single-family home ownership. What this means is that it’s basically money to build more sprawl. Today’s link shows several interactive maps on this topic, and you can search all the way down to the zip code. For Columbus, those who take advantage of this deduction live far more in the suburbs than in the inner core, not surprisingly.

Cool Link Columbus Job Density



The Brookings Institute recently released a study on job density, or basically where jobs are most heavily concentrated within metro areas.

Here is how Columbus job density compared to other Ohio metros.

Total Jobs Located within 3 Miles of the Central Business District (Downtown) in 2010, Most to Least
1. Columbus: 157,193
2. Cincinnati: 151,956
3. Cleveland: 127,846
4. Dayton: 75,481
5. Akron: 66,247
6. Toledo: 59,552
7. Youngstown: 54,368

% of Total Metro Jobs Located within 3 Miles of the Central Business District (Downtown) in 2010, Highest to Lowest
1. Youngstown: 27.3%
2. Akron: 24.9%
3. Dayton: 24.5%
4. Toledo: 23.8%
5. Columbus: 21.2%
6. Cincinnati: 17.7%
7. Cleveland: 15.4%

So Columbus has the highest total number of jobs within 3 miles of the CBD, but is in the bottom half for % of total metro jobs in that area.

Jobs Change from 2000-2010 for all Jobs Located within 3 Miles of the CBD, Best to Worst
1. Toledo: -15,412
2. Akron: -16,700
3. Youngstown: -17,307
4. Columbus: -30,338
5. Cincinnati: -31,717
6. Dayton: -32,420
7. Cleveland: -54,134

% Jobs Change from 2000-2010 for all Jobs Located within 3 Miles of the CBD, Best to Worst
1. Cincinnati: -1.9%
2. Cleveland: -2.1%
3. Akron: -2.5%
4. Columbus: -2.5%
5. Toledo: -2.5%
6. Youngstown: -2.9%
7. Dayton: -3.9%

At first glance, this may seem like horrible news, and while it’s not necessarily good, almost all metros lost jobs in this area, even high growth cities like Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas, etc. This has a lot to do with the suburbanization of the nation over the last several decades, including during most of the 2000s. Jobs left the central core to spread out into the suburban areas people were moving to.

Total Jobs Located Between 3 and 10 Miles from the CBD in 2010, Highest to Lowest
1. Columbus: 321,508
2. Cleveland: 317,128
3. Cincinnati: 252,789
4. Dayton: 164,453
5. Toledo: 137,339
6. Akron: 117,986
7. Youngstown: 89,711

% of Total Metro Jobs Located Between 3 and 10 Miles from the CBD in 2010, Highest to Lowest
1. Toledo: 54.8%
2. Dayton: 53.4%
3. Youngstown: 45.1%
4. Akron: 44.3%
5. Columbus: 43.4%
6. Cleveland: 38.1%
7. Cincinnati: 29.5%

% Jobs Change 2000-2010 for all Jobs Located Between 3 and 10 Miles from the CBD, Best to Worst
1. Dayton: +1.5%
2. Youngstown: +1.1%
3. Akron: +0.7%
4. Toledo: -0.1%
5. Cincinnati: -1.4%
6. Cleveland: -1.4%
7. Columbus: -2.4%

The positive % changes even while the area lost jobs has to do with how many the share of total metro jobs. While the area may have lost jobs, its share of the entire metro grew as other areas shrank faster.

Finally, the far suburbs…

Total Jobs Located between 10 and 35 Miles from the CBD in 2010, Highest to Lowest
1. Cincinnati: 452,895
2. Cleveland: 386,727
3. Columbus: 262,003
4. Akron: 82,260
5. Dayton: 67,838
6. Youngstown: 54,709
7. Toledo: 53,736

% of Total Metro Jobs Located Between 10 and 35 Miles from the CBD in 2010, Highest to Lowest
1. Cincinnati: 52.8%
2. Cleveland: 46.5%
3. Columbus: 35.4%
4. Akron: 30.9%
5. Youngstown: 27.5%
6. Dayton: 22.0%
7. Toledo: 21.4%

% Jobs Change 2000-2010 for all Jobs Located Between 10 and 35 Miles from the CBD, Best to Worst
1. Columbus: +5.0%
2. Cleveland: +3.5%
3. Cincinnati: +3.3%
4. Dayton: +2.5%
5. Toledo: +2.5%
6. Akron: +1.7%
7. Youngstown: +1.7%

So what do all these numbers show? Well, the larger the metro, the more spread out it seems to be as far as where jobs are located. Smaller metros like Akron and Dayton are more compact. Columbus is the most compact of the 3-Cs and has the most total jobs, by far, within 10 miles of its core of any metro, but not by %. None of the metros saw real jobs growth within 10 miles of their cores, which is to be expected. However, in recent years, urban development has exploded, and companies seem to be shifting jobs closer to the center. It remains to be seen if these are long term trends or just a blip.



March 2013 Jobs Data




March 2013 jobs data Columbus, Ohio

March 2013 jobs data has been updated for the greater Columbus Metro. The numbers reflect an economy still in long-term recovery from the Great Recession.

Columbus City
Unemployment Rate: 6.1%
Unemployment Rate Change since March 2012: -0.5
Unemployment Rate Change since January 2013: -0.7
Civilian Labor Force: 424,700
Civilian Labor Force Change since March 2012: -100
Civilian Labor Force Change since January 2013: -1,700
Employment: 398,800
Employment Change since March 2012: +1,900
Employment Change since January 2013: +4,000
Unemployment: 25,900
Unemployment Change since March 2012: -2,000
Unemployment Change since January 2013: -4,900

Franklin County
Unemployment Rate: 6.1%
Unemployment Rate Change since March 2012: -0.4
Unemployment Rate Change since January 2013: -0.7
Civilian Labor Force: 621,100
Civilian Labor Force Change since March 2012: +0
Civilian Labor Force Change since January 2013: -2,600
Employment: 583,300
Employment Change since March 2012: +2,700
Employment Change since January 2013: +5,900
Unemployment: 37,900
Unemployment Change since March 2012: -2,700
Unemployment Change since January 2013: -4,700

Columbus Metro Area
Unemployment Rate: 6.2%
Unemployment Rate Change since March 2012: -0.4
Unemployment Rate Change since January 2013: -0.8
Civilian Labor Force: 963,200
Civilian Labor Force Change since March 2012: +300
Civilian Labor Force Change since January 2013: -4,700
Employment: 903,900
Employment Change since March 2012: +4,200
Employment Change since January 2013: +3,400
Unemployment: 59,300
Unemployment Change since March 2012: -3,900
Unemployment Change since January 2013: -8,100

Ohio Overall
Unemployment Rate: 7.1%
Unemployment Rate Change since March 2012: -0.3
Unemployment Rate Change since January 2013 : +0.1
Civilian Labor Force: 5,744,000
Civilian Labor Force Change since March 2012: -26,000
Civilian Labor Force Change since January 2013: +4,200
Employment: 5,388,000
Employment Change since March 2012: -8,000
Employment Change since January 2013: -3,000
Unemployment: 407,000
Unemployment Change since March 2012: -18,000
Unemployment Change since January 2013: +7,200

Non-Farm Jobs
Total: 943,300
Change from March 2012: +5,000
Change from January 2013: -300

By Industry
Mining/Logging/Construction Total: 26,800
Change from March 2012: -900
Change from January 2013: -100

Manufacturing Total: 65,200
Change from March 2012: -200
Change from January 2013: +200

Trade/Transportation/Utilities Total: 179,300
Change from March 2012: -500
Change from January 2013: -2,900

Information Total: 16,400
Change from March 2012: -300
Change from January 2013: -100

Financial Activities Total: 71,700
Change from March 2012: +700
Change from January 2013: +0

Professional and Business Services Total: 155,900
Change from March 2012: +700
Change from January 2013: +300

Education and Health Services Total: 140,000
Change from March 2012: +4,000
Change from January 2013: +500

Leisure and Hospitality Total: 90,100
Change from March 2012: +200
Change from January 2013: +1,600

Other Services Total: 35,900
Change from March 2012: +200
Change from January 2013: -300

Government Total: 162,000
Change from March 2012: +100
Change from January 2013: +1,500

March was another mediocre month for the Columbus area, and Ohio in general. All indications are, however, that April really began to turn around the downturn that began in December.

The Columbus MSA Economy at the Bureau of Labor Statistics was the source of this data.