Category Archives: Columbus History

Housing Market Update November 2013

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housing market update November 2013 Columbus, Ohio

November home sales were down in Central Ohio for the 2nd straight month according to the Housing Market Update November 2013 data from Columbus Realtors. One main reason seems to be the culprit: There just aren’t enough houses to go around. Hot urban markets simply have a limited stock of homes with very few going up for sale at any one time, and builders still have not been building very much since the recession. Combined, the total number of homes for sale has declined to levels not seen since the early 2000s. This explains why most markets are still seeing gains in home prices while overall sales have fallen from the year before.

The bottom line is that demand is outpacing supply, and that situation doesn’t look to change anytime soon, especially in the urban core.

Here are the stats for the 21 major areas of Franklin County that I look at housing stats for.

Top 10 November 2013 Sales Totals
1. Columbus: 701
2. Dublin: 52
3. Clintonville: 49
4. Gahanna: 38
5. Upper Arlington: 38
6. Hilliard: 36
7. Reynoldsburg: 36
8. Grove City: 35
9. Westerville: 31
10. Canal Winchester: 20

Top 10 November 2013 Sales Increases over November 2012
1. Downtown: +50.0%
2. Grandview Heights: +14.3%
3. Clintonville: +6.5%
4. Hilliard: +5.9%
5. Minerva Park: +0.0%
6. New Albany: +0.0%
7. Obetz: +0.0%
8. Gahanna: -2.6%
9. Reynoldsburg: -5.3%
10. Grove City: -5.4%

Top 10 Year-to-Date Sales Through November 2013
1. Columbus: 9,561
2. Dublin: 747
3. Upper Arlington: 678
4. Clintonville: 656
5. Westerville: 580
6. Grove City: 568
7. Hilliard: 533
8. Gahanna: 494
9. Reynoldsburg: 466
10. Pickerington: 291

Top 10 Year-to-Date Increases Through November 2013 Over 2012
1. Minerva Park: +46.2%
2. Pataskala: +31.3%
3. Gahanna: +30.3%
4. Reynoldsburg: +28.0%
5. Whitehall: +27.3%
6. Hilliard: +27.2%
7. Clintonville: +24.2%
8. Grove City: +23.7%
9. Westerville: +23.4%
10. Bexley: +22.5%
10. Downtown: +22.5%

Average Sales November 2013
Urban: 79
Suburban: 28.7
Urban without Columbus: 16.8

Average % Change November 2013 vs. November 2012
Urban: -7.1%
Suburban: -11.6%
Urban without Columbus: -6.5%

Average YTD Sales Through November 2013
Urban: 1,097.7
Suburban: 435.9
Urban without Columbus: 251.4

Average YTD % Change YTD Through November 2013
Urban: +14.9%
Suburban: +19.9%
Urban without Columbus: +14.4%

Top 10 Average Sales Price November 2013
1. New Albany: $614,687
2. Bexley: $456,365
3. Dublin: $344,341
4. Upper Arlington: $326,913
5. Downtown: $302,464
6. Worthington: $296,328
7. German Village: $271,656
8. Grandview Heights: $257,001
9. Pataskala: $196,158
10. Hilliard: $193,756

Top 10 Average Sales Price % Change November 2013 Over November 2012
1. Worthington: +59.6%
2. Pataskala: +38.0%
3. Downtown: +36.7%
4. Bexley: +32.5%
5. Obetz: +30.8%
6. New Albany: +28.6%
7. Dublin: +21.6%
8. Whitehall: +10.1%
9. Minerva Park: +10.0%
10. Pickerington: +10.0%

Top 10 Average Sales Prices YTD Through November 2013
1. New Albany: $541,931
2. Upper Arlington: $364,369
3. Bexley: $351,282
4. Dublin: $335,164
5. German Village: $297,832
6. Downtown: $286,470
7. Worthington: $249,979
8. Grandview Heights: $226,458
9. Hilliard: $215,966
10. Gahanna: $198,612

Top 10 Average YTD Sales Price % Change Through November 2013 vs. 2012
1. Whitehall: +17.2%
2. Minerva Park: +17.1%
3. Downtown: +15.5%
4. Upper Arlington: +13.0%
5. Obetz: +12.3%
6. Gahanna: +11.6%
7. Reynoldsburg: +8.5%
8. New Albany: +8.3%
9. Worthington: +8.1%
10. Bexley: +4.9%

Average Sales Price November 2013
Urban: $227,811
Suburban: $229,942
Urban without Columbus: $238,166

Average Sales Price Change November 2012 vs. November 2012
Urban: +12.5%
Suburban: +6.0%
Urban without Columbus: +13.7%

Average Sales Price YTD
Urban: $217,072
Suburban: $223,394
Urban without Columbus: $226,041

Average Sales Price % Change YTD
Urban: +6.3%
Suburban: +4.9%
Urban without Columbus: +6.6%

Top 10 Fastest Selling Markets November 2013 (Based on Average # of Days for Listings to Sell)
1. Grandview Heights: 15
2. Westerville: 38
3. Clintonville: 40
4. Upper Arlington: 44
5. Hilliard: 47
6. Bexley: 49
7. Worthington: 57
8. Whitehall: 61
9. Dublin: 62
10. Minerva Park: 65
10. Obetz: 65

Top 10 Fastest Selling Markets YTD
1. Worthington: 40
2. Grandview Heights: 44
3. Upper Arlington: 45
4. Clintonville: 50
5. Westerville: 52
6. Hilliard: 54
7. Bexley: 58
8. Gahanna: 59
9. Dublin: 62
10. Grove City: 64

Average # of Days Before Sale, November 2013
Urban: 57.4
Suburban: 89.4
Urban without Columbus: 56.3

Average # of Days Before Sale YTD
Urban: 60.6
Suburban: 62.7
Urban without Columbus: 60.2

Top 10 Lowest Market Housing Supplies (Based on # of Months to Sell all Listings)
1. Worthington: 1.6
2. Upper Arlington: 2.1
3. Hilliard: 2.2
4. Minerva Park: 2.2
5. Bexley: 2.3
6. Clintonville: 2.4
7. Westerville: 2.4
8. Gahanna: 2.6
9. German Village: 2.6
10. Grandview Heights: 2.6

A healthy housing supply is considered to be around 5 months. Anything less than 3 months is considered very low. All of the 21 areas I looked at were below 5 months, indicating a county-wide shortage.

Average # of Months to Sell All Listings, November 2013
Urban: 2.8
Suburban: 3.6
Urban without Columbus: 2.7

Average % Change of Single-Family Home Sales November 2013 vs. November 2012
Urban: -1.7%
Suburban: -12.6%
Urban without Columbus: -0.5%

Average % Change of Single-Family Home Sales YTD vs. YTD 2012
Urban: +9.3%
Suburban: +19.4%
Urban without Columbus: +8.2%

Average % Change of Condo Sales November 2013 vs. November 2012
Urban: +23.3%
Suburban: +52.8%
Urban without Columbus: +26.6%

Average % Change of Condo Sales YTD vs. YTD 2012
Urban: +27.6%
Suburban: +26.4%
Urban without Columbus: +28.3%



The 1901 Mega Cold Front

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The 1901 mega cold front was a massive wake-up call after a relatively tranquil, if not cool, fall. Temperatures through November and early December 1901 had been persistently below normal. 24 days in November had been below normal, and but for a few days very early in December, this pattern continued. However, beginning on December 11th, temperatures began to rise ahead of an approaching weather system. By the 13th, temperatures reached record highs in Columbus when they spiked at 65 degrees. The following day started equally warm with a record high of 65. However, a change was coming.

To the northwest of Ohio, temperatures were plunging rapidly as a deep, cold high pressure system was being pulled south. Dispatch headlines warned of the record-breaking cold.

A powerful cold front would move through late on the 14th, and temperatures began to plummet. By midnight, the temperature had dropped all the way down to just 14 degrees, a single day drop of 51 degrees! A driving rain accompanied the frontal passage, but quickly changed over to heavy snow that accumulated 3″-5″ across the area.

On the 15th, the temperature continued to fall, albeit more slowly, and by midnight the reading was -4. This mega-cold front had produced a 69-degree total drop in Columbus, which made it one of the strongest cold fronts ever to move through the Ohio region.
The weather map on December 14, 1901, as the front began pushing through Ohio.

The front would bring a major pattern change. Every day from the 15th-21st featured highs in the teens, which set many daily low maximum records, some of which still stand more than 100 years later.

The winter of 1901-02 was generally cold and snowy in the Ohio Valley, but no future front that winter would come close to December 14-15th of 1901.

To view more local and current weather, visit: Wilmington National Weather Service
And for more historic December records, check out: December Weather Records



Thanksgiving Historic Climatology

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Thanksgiving historic climatology

Thanksgiving historic climatology records go back to 1878.

Normals *1981-2010
High: 48
Low: 33
Mean: 40.5
Precipitation: 0.11″
Snowfall: 0.1″

Top 10 Coldest Highs
1. 1930: 12
2. 1936: 26
3. 1880, 1903, 1905: 27
4. 1938: 28
5. 1892, 1898: 29
6. 1881: 30
7. 2013: 31
8. 1945, 2002: 32
9. 1886, 1889, 1890, 1929, 1958: 33
10. 1882, 1885, 1901: 34

Top 10 Coldest Lows
1. 1930: 3
2. 1930, 2005: 15
3. 1929, 1984: 16
4. 2000: 17
5. 1880, 1881, 1892, 1894, 1958: 18
6. 1901, 1905, 2002: 19
7. 1898, 1936, 1938, 1950, 1982, 1989, 1996: 20
8. 1911, 1956, 2013: 31
9. 1882, 1886, 1912, 1945: 22
10. 1994, 2008: 23

Top 10 Warmest Highs
1. 1896: 70
2. 1915, 1940: 64
3. 1879, 1908, 1981, 2007, 2012: 63
4. 1966, 1968, 1973, 1979: 62
5. 1918, 1941: 61
6. 1914, 1927, 1983: 60
7. 1933: 59
8. 1899, 1957: 58
9. 1921, 1943, 1990, 2010: 57
10: 1887, 1922, 2006: 56

Top 10 Warmest Lows
1. 1979: 53
2. 1896: 52
3. 1940: 51
4. 1957: 49
5. 1879: 48
6. 1934, 1966: 47
7. 1968: 46
8. 1913, 1933, 1978, 1990, 2003: 43
9. 1899, 1927, 1961: 42
10. 1908, 1951, 1987, 1991, 1998: 41

Top 10 Wettest
1. 2010: 1.76″
2. 1961: 1.58″
3. 1968: 1.22″
4. 1990: 0.71″
5. 1921, 1925: 0.70″
6. 1926: 0.69″
7. 1980: 0.65″
8. 1887: 0.60″
9. 1957: 0.59″
10. 1951: 0.49″

Top 10 Snowiest
1. 1880: 3.2″
2. 1950: 1.1″
3. 1938: 0.8″
4. 1959: 0.7″
5. 1889: 0.4″
6. 1945, 1957: 0.3″
7. 1890, 1954, 2005: 0.2″
8. 1953, 2004: 0.1″
9. Multiple: Trace
10. Multiple: 0

Most Snow on the Ground
1959: 1″
2013: 1″
Trace: Multiple



Ohio Domestic Migration 2005-2012

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Ohio has been growing fairly slowly for several decades now. In fact, if it was not for Columbus’ population growth and international migration, the state would’ve been losing population in recent years. But is the picture really that bad? Are things changing? I decided to look at Ohio domestic migration 2005-2012 trends to find out.

The first chart above shows the total population that moved to Ohio from all other 49 states plus Puerto Rico and DC by year. The drop during the recession is pretty obvious, as mobility greatly decreased during that time. 2012 had the 2nd highest total of the period, only slightly behind 2006.

What the out-migration chart shows is that the total is gradually going down, meaning fewer people, on average, are leaving Ohio each year. So what is the overall difference of in vs. out migration to Ohio?

As the chart shows, the trend has been improving over time, and 2012 barely registered a loss at all. Will the state begin seeing positive domestic in-migration in the very near future? Based on this chart, the answer seems to be yes. A lot can still happen, but it does appear that Ohio is finally shaking off its long-term population issues.



Great Lakes Hurricane of 1913

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I haven’t done a weather-specific post in a while, and this week marks the 100th anniversary of the infamous Great Lakes Hurricane.. The storm lashed Ohio and other Great Lakes states for 3 days from November 9th-11th, 1913, causing widespread damage and loss of life. More than 250 died, mostly from drowning as 19 ships sank on the Great Lakes.

The storm began on the 9th as a pair of low-pressure systems collided over Michigan and the southern Lakes. Temperatures in the 50s and 60s dropped throughout the day on the 8th as the combined storm pulled a cold front across Ohio. A tight pressure gradient caused strong winds and rain turned to heavy snow. While the brunt of the storm hit the Cleveland area and adjacent lakeshore communities, the storm affected 3/4ths of Ohio, including Columbus.

A heavy rain began in Columbus on the 7th as the cold front moved through. Temperatures dropped from the mid-50s early on the 8th to the mid-30s by evening. On the 9th as temperatures dropped to and below freezing, snow began to fall, becoming occasionally heavy throughout the day. Winds of 40mph in the Columbus area combined with the snow to create blizzard conditions throughout the 9th and early into the 10th, though not nearly as severe as they were on Lake Erie. Snowfall totals were 10″-20″ across all of Eastern Ohio, and the Cleveland area had up to 2 feet. Columbus, with its 7.5″ total, got off lucky, while Cincinnati had just 1 inch.

The storm remains as the most severe early winter storm in Ohio history.
The US Weather map on November 8, 1913.

The weather map on November 10, 1913.

Headline from November 13, 1913.

Some Snow Totals Across Ohio
Cleveland: 22.2″
Akron: 20.0″
Bellefontaine: 8.0″
Lancaster: 8.0″
Columbus: 7.5″
Toledo: 6.5″
Circleville: 5.0″
Dayton: 3.2″
Cincinnati: 0.8″

It should be kept in mind that snow-measuring is an inexact science, and that was especially true in the early 20th Century. By all news accounts at the time, snow drifts were 3′-4′ across most of eastern Ohio, and reports of a foot or more were common for areas east of present-day Rt. 23. Most stations, however, did not report such totals. This is most likely because very strong winds blew the snow around, making it very difficult to measure accurately.
For example, at least 12″ with 4′ drifts were reported at Newark, just east of Columbus, yet official records don’t necessarily account for those reports.