Category Archives: Surveys

Ohio unemployment drops for the 5th straight month

Posted on 05/21/2012 | Leave a comment

Ohio continues to improve for 5th straight month! Unemployment rate dropped again for April, going from 7.5% in March to 7.4% in April. That compares quite favorably to the 9.5% rate in December 2010 before the new governor, John Kasich, took office.

In December 2010, 560,000 people were unemployed. In March 2012, 438,000 were unemployed, and it further dropped to 431,000 in April 2012. That’s an additional 129,000 people with paychecks since Kasich’s tenure began.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of employees by industry for Ohio in April 2012 vs April 2011 is:

Employees by Ohio Industry
Industry Apr 2011 Apr 2012 % Chg
Trade, Transportation, Utility 957.1 973.7 +1.7%
Education/Health 849.3 865.8 +1.9%
Government 770.1 767.0 -0.4%
Prof/Bus Services 647.7 655.0 +1.1%
Manufacturing 635.6 652.2 +2.6%
Leisure/Hospitality 481.3 473.1 -1.7%
Financial 279.2 276.4 -1.0%
Construction 172.9 173.9 +0.5%

The National unemployment rate continues to be above 8%, at 8.1%, but there’s much debate on the accuracy of that number because it does not include people who have dropped out of the market or are underemployed.

Let’s hope the Governor continues his successes to bring or keep businesses here in Ohio which will certainly help our housing market. As you can see from the chart, two industries connected with real estate are at the bottom of the chart growth. Plus, since Realtors® are self-employed (don’t qualify for unemployment) we’re not even included in the unemployment numbers even though a substantial number of agents have had to exit the business.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Surveys

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Central Ohio High Schools Highly Rated

Posted on 05/10/2012 | Leave a comment

The American Institutes for Research worked with U.S. News & World Report to rank schools relative to how those students performed based on the state’s average, how the schools are preparing students for college, and how minority/low-income students perform vs similar students in the state. They did this for 20,000 high schools around the nation.

Five of the central Ohio schools were ranked within the Top 10 in the State. Nine were ranked in the Top 25 of the State. Here are their rankings:

American Institutes for Research School Rankings
School Ohio Rank National Rank
Bexley 2 120
Dublin Jerome 5 156
Olentangy Liberty 7 216
Upper Arlington 9 244
Olentangy 10 256
Olentangy Orange 16 393
Dublin Coffman 17 410
Dublin Scioto 22 583
New Albany 25 659

Bexley, Upper Arlington, Dublin Coffman, Dublin Scioto and New Albany are located in Franklin County. The remaining schools are in southern Delaware County.

Read the complete Columbus Business 1st article

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Dublin Ohio, Franklin County, Schools, Surveys

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Delaware County still leads Ohio’s population growth

Posted on 04/07/2012 | Leave a comment

Copyrighted Village at KinsaleDelaware County’s growth has slowed since the early 2000′s but it’s growth is still the best in Ohio according to Census Bureau data released this week. The average rate between 2000-2010 was 4.7%. The current rate is 1.8%. Between July 2010 to July 2011, Delaware County added 3,103 people. The southern half of the county continues to be the most popular with new home buyers locating around Powell, Lewis Center and Galena/Hoover Reservoir areas.

The seven counties in central Ohio had growth that kept the State from actually losing population. Only one county – Madison – lost population. The other counties in central Ohio grew …

  • Delaware – up 1.8%, from 175,238 to 178,341
  • Franklin – up 1.1%, from 1,165,789 to 1,178,799
  • Union – up 0.8%, from 52,370 to 52,764
  • Fairfield – up 0.5%, from 146,381 to 147,066
  • Licking – up 0.3%, 166,727 to 167,248
  • Pickway – up 0.3%, 55,810 to 55,990
  • Madison – down 0.1%, 43,444 to 43,401

You can read more in The Dispatch regarding other findings in the Census data.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Franklin County, Surveys

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NAR Reveals Housing Sales Lower Than Reported Due To Errors

Posted on 12/15/2011 | Leave a comment

This week the National Association of Realtors announced that the data they’ve been releasing on home sales has been flawed – mainly understated – by possibly as much as 20% lower than previously reported. They said they will recalculate the data going back to 2007. The national news/business TV shows have reported on this because it will mean the housing decline will be much worse than earlier thought. So be prepared when you hear more about it.

NAR indicated a problem with areas where an agent might belong to two MLS’s and posts their listing in both MLS’s. Denver and Colorado Springs were mentioned, but there are high population areas – East Coast – where an agent needs to belong to more than one MLS in order to capture all potential buyers. When that ONE house sells, its sale is recorded in both systems so the sale is overstated.

The NAR also said there may be a problem with new-builds being double counted since they sometimes are listed in the MLS but the builder reports the sale as well. We have that issue here, since builder spec homes are often placed in the MLS. Even if the builder hasn’t put the home in the MLS, the agent who sells the home can enter it in after the sale in order to record a sale for that agent. Again, this would result in double counting for any report that has obtained data from the builders as well as the MLS.

Our own local Board (CBR) often issues reports by zip code. I’ve previously written why that is not a good move because many of our zip codes cross school district lines. Home buyers tend to want to buy homes according to the schools. To illustrate how the data can vary, let’s consider Powell’s zip code – 43065 – which primarily is southwest Delaware County, but it also extends down into Franklin County in the Smokey Row/Hard Rd area. There is a wide difference in the homes and prices in the entire zip code.

For Jan-Nov 2011, in the entire zip code of 43065 (excluding short sales, REO’s, foreclosures, condos), there were 377 homes sold at an average price of $347,114. But if we view it by the four school districts found within the 43065 zip, here’s how the numbers shake out:

  • Olentangy SD: 265 homes at average sale price of $394,425.
  • New Builds in Olentangy SD: 8 homes at average price of $438,264.
  • Buckeye Valley SD: 43 homes at average price of $291,400. (mainly an area around & part of Scioto Reserve)
  • Dublin SD: 24 homes at average price of $285,285. (primarily Shawnee Hills and Summit View Woods in Franklin County)
  • Worthington SD: 45 homes at average price of $154,717. (Franklin County around Smokey Row/Hard Rd)

This is why I don’t use the NAR or CBR data for any of my reports on this blog. There are just too many misleading nuances. Real estate is local and if one doesn’t know about or understand the specific points of a given area, the public can really be misled.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Home prices, Homes, Housing stats, New home builders, Schools, Surveys

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Powell ranked #5 for Quality of Life in the Midwest

Posted on 12/08/2011 | 2 Comments

Powell OH 43065 welcome signLast July, I wrote that Powell is the Crown Jewel of Delaware County. According to an article in Business First, a group called On Numbers has analyzed 955 Midwest communities to rank them for “Most Favorable Living Conditions“. In determining a community’s ranking, the group considered: (1) healthy economy, (2) light traffic, (3) moderate cost-of-living, (4) impressive housing stock, and (5) strong educational system.

Powell received a rank of **5**!! Glad to know that others have recognized the benefits that we already know. Dublin was the only other local suburb to make the Top 10, and it was ranked 9.

Rankings of other local central Ohio suburbs:

Ranked 11 to 50: Bexley (36), Arlington (39), Worthington (47)

Ranked 51 to 100: Hilliard (60), Westerville (84)

Ranked 100 to 200: Gahanna (106), Pickerington (143)

Ranked 200 to 400: Grove City (305), Delaware (310), Pataskala (329), Marysville (356)

400 plus: Reynoldsburg (482), Columbus (650), Whitehall (916)

NOTE: I did not see New Albany in the list on Business First’s web site. I may have missed it, but am surprised if it wasn’t somewhere in the list.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Powell Ohio, Surveys

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NAR Issues 2011 Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers

Posted on 11/29/2011 | Leave a comment

The 2011 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers survey results has just been published. My take-away from the stats is that people are returning to a little more conservatism in their purchase habits. That is a good thing given the rather reckless spending that occurred in the early part of the decade that ultimately led to people losing their homes.

  • 78% believe their home is a good investment and 45% believe it’s better than stocks.

First-Time Buyers

  • Median age was 31. Median income was $62,400, up from $59,900 in the 2010 survey.
  • They typically purchased a 1570 sq ft home costing $155,000.
  • Their typical monthly P&I payment was $794.
  • Their median down payment was 5%.

Repeat Buyers

  • Median age was 53. Median income was $96,600, up from $87,000 in the 2010 survey.
  • They typically purchased a 2100 sq ft home costing $219,500.
  • Their typical monthly P&I payment was $1006.
  • Their median down payment was 15%.

All Buyers Collectively

  • 64% are married couples; 18% are single women; 10% are single men; 7% are unmarried couples; and 1% are “other”.
  • Last year survey results were 58% – 20% – 12% – 8% – 1% respectively. NAR suggests that the increase in married couples points to married couples with their dual incomes being better positioned for a mortgage in the tight credit environment.
  • 77% purchased a single-family home; 9% purchased a condo, 8% bought a townhouse; and 6% bought another type of housing.
  • The typical home had 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.
  • 51% of the homes were in a suburb or subdivision. 18% were in an urban area. 18% were in a small town. 11% were in a rural area. 3% were in a resort/recreational area.
  • 89% used a real estate agent to buy. 7% bought direct from the builder.
  • When asked where they first learned about the home they PURCHASED, 40% replied the Internet; 35% from real estate agent; 11% yard sign/open house; 6% friend/neighbor/relative; 5% home builder; 2% print/newspaper ad; 2% direct from seller; and less than 1% from a home book or magazine.

Details about the survey

NAR mailed an 8-page questionnaire in July/August 2011 to  a national sample of 81,099 home buyers & sellers who purchased their homes between July 2010 thru June 2011. From the sample, there were 5,708 usable responses, giving a 7.3% response rate.

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Posted in Advertising, Buyers, Central Ohio, Homes, Housing stats, Internet, Media, Newspaper, Surveys

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