Category Archives: Columbus

Walkable Urban Cores – How Downtown can Save America

Daily finance had an interesting interview with Jeff Speck, author of Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time.  Jeff Speck is an architect and city planner in Washington DC and served on the Mayor’s Institute on City Design.  He also served on the Sustainability Task Force of the Department of…

Columbus Ohio Ranked Second by Gallup for Job Creation Last Year

Of the top 200 U.S. markets, Columbus ranked second with a score of 30, only behind Houston (33) and followed by Orlando (29), Charlotte (28) and Salt Lake City (28). The job creation score was created based on a survey of local employees with a question of whether their employer was adding or cutting jobs. …

Columbus and Central Ohio Residential Sales Report – March 2013

The Columbus and Central Ohio MSA new and resale homes report show that the market remains strong and is getting stronger. Homes sales for the quarter were up 17.6 percent over first quarter last year and pending sales are up 19.3 percent. Median price at $135,000 for March was up 4.9 percent over the $128,650…

Columbus High End Residential Rental Market is Getting Expensive.

New High end apartments in the vicinity of downtown or the short north are commanding up to $3,000 per month.  A wave of swanky apartments are coming online within the next 12 months with two bedroom unit approaching $2,000 per month, and townhouses and penthouses at up to $3,000 per month. The Wood Co. apartments…

New Apartment Construction Swamping Market?

CoStar News reports that new apartment construction at four or five times the national average for other types of commercial construction in certain markets will cause vacancies to increase. “Apartment construction has been on a tear in certain markets,” CoStar says. “With the inventory growing at more than four or five times the national rate,…

Columbus and Central Ohio Home Sales recap for 2012

There were 22,915 homes sales for all of 2012 and that was up 15.5 percent from 2011.  These are the best numbers since 2007. Average sales price was up 7.2 percent to $167,459 for 2012 and December was $158,898, which is up 7.5 percent from December 2011. Median price was also up 8.7percent to $144,500…

Columbus Ohio – Commercial Construction Roundup for 2012

There’s a lot going on around here aside from the I-70 / I-71 project.  IF we have a mild winter as we did last year, it will get these projects moving along toward completion early in 2013 except for the freeway reconstruction.  That will take a little bit longer. Columbus Commons, 600 Goodale, Harrison West,…

Westerville Named one of America’s Friendliest Towns

My home town of Westerville Ohio was named the fifth friendliest town in the United States according to Forbes and a Nextdoor.com.  Westerville was the only town in Ohio to make the top 25. Some of this is attributed to the number of park, Westerville Community Center, 4th Friday celebration in the old uptown Westerville,…

Columbus and Central Ohio October 2012 Homes Sales Report

Columbus and Central Ohio October home sales were up for the tenth consecutive month with sales of 1,990 up 24.8 percent from October 2011 according to the Columbus Board of Realtors. Average price was $163,764, which is a 10percent increase from last October. New listings were up 12.1 percent, putting the current unsold inventory at…

Commercial Real Estate Pricing Growth Expands Into Secondary Markets

CoStar’s CCRSI index show strong pricing gains across all commercial real estate segments for September 2012.  Third quarter commercial real estate transactions closed with with strong pricing gains. CoStar’s two broadest indexes that measure aggregate pricing movement for commercial real estate properties, the CCRSI’s U.S. Value-Weighted Composite Index and the U.S. Equal-Weighted Composite Index, posted…

Unemployment Rate in Columbus and Central Down in a Big Way

The Columbus and Central Ohio unemployment rate has fallen to 5.7 percent from 7.4 percent in September 2011.  Obviously, that’s a huge improvement and it’s not because of folks who have given up looking for work.  The seven county Central Ohio area has returned 48,000 of the 53,000 jobs lost during the downturn. The regions’…

Columbus and Central Ohio September 2012 Homes Sales Report

Prices are still trending upward.  Homes prices in the Columbus and Central Ohio area are up from same month last year with an average price of $169,413.  That’s up 8.1 percent over September 2011. 1,859 homes in Columbus and Central Ohio sold during September 2012, which is 2.5 percent increase over August 2012.  Year to…

Net Leased Retail Deal Velocity Down

Walmart Market Center

What I have been experiencing over the last two or three quarters in regards to triple net or absolute net, single tenant retail seems to be reality according many in the industry, including Mark Heschmeyer of CoStar News. Where are all of the net leased retail opportunities?  There’s been strong activity over the last 18…

Columbus and Central Ohio Multifamily Update – Vacancy Rate Falling

Reis Reports announced that the 126,022 unit Columbus / Central Ohio multifamily market vacancy rate had fallen to 6.1 percent by the end of the second quarter 2012, which is the latest quarter we have numbers for.  That’s down 30 basis points over the prior quarter and down a whopping 190 points from second quarter…

Net Leased Retail Become Hotter Due to Low Yields on Alternative Investments

Single tenant, net leased retail has continued to gain strength as an asset class.  With an economy barely growing, one could wonder why is triple net and absolute net retail as strong as it is?  Given what else is available as a safe investment, it’s no wonder net leased retail is doing well.  Ten year government…

Columbus and Central Ohio August 2012 Homes Sales Report

The news is good again.  Homes prices in Columbus and Central Ohio are up from same month last year  with a average price of $178,766, which is up 6.4% over the same month last year. 2,326 Central Ohio homes sold during August 2012, which is an 12.3% increase over August 2011.  Year to date home…

NAR Commercial Real Estate Outlook for August 2012

The National Association of Realtors sums it up pretty well in the attached August 2012 Commercial Real Estate Outlook when they opine that the economy has gone on vacation.  That’s pretty much how I would describe it too.  True, the triple net or absolute net, single tenant, national investment grade credit tenant retail is still…

Columbus and Central Ohio July 2012 Residential Homes Sales Report

Great news:  homes prices in Columbus and Central Ohio hit their highest in five years with a average price of $186,781, which is a whopping 10.3% higher than July 2011.  The higher priced areas saw the biggest gains, which is even better news in my opinion. 2,096 Columbus and central Ohio homes sold during July…

Apartment Investment Remains Strong

The multifamily segment of commercial real estate continues to strengthen in spite of new supply coming on line according to Randyl Drummer of CoStart news.  Demand still far outstrips demand. For the sixth consecutive quarter, the National Multi Housing Council Quarterly Survey of Apartment markets showed improvements across all four indices.  The indices measure supply,…

Columbus and Central Ohio June 2012 Residential Homes Sales Report

There’s continued good news for the Central Ohio market as homes sales were 2,429 for June 2012, up 18.1% from the 2,056 for June 2011.  Sales for the first half of the year were 10,473, up from the first half for 2011 at 9,507. Median price was $155,250, up 15% from $135,000 in June 2011. …