Category Archives: Surveys

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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Post election info. Read it and weep???

Posted on 11/11/2011 | Leave a comment

Business First published an article on the 2011 School District Rankings as released by the Ohio Department of Education. Their website includes a searchable database for readers to look up their specific district or compare it to other districts.

Local Schools Rank Within the State

2011 Ohio School District Rankings
Rank District Students Index $/Student
40 Dublin 13,614 106.94 $13,013
41 Olentangy 16,263 106.93 $9,465
49 New Albany 4,191 106.63 $12,249
124 Hilliard 14,945 103.53 $11,398
138 Worthington 9,098 103.15 $13,305
168 Big Walnut 2,797 102.35 $9,261
175 Marysville 5,345 102.16 $9,467
190 Westerville 14,105 101.92 $10,890
226 Bckye Valley 2,344 101.10 $9,938
266 Delaware 4,942 100.34 $10,009

Salaries of Some School Positions

You can also search by school for the salaries that are paid by district. The highly controversial SB5 (Issue 2) was about helping local governments decide how to best spend their budgets rather than having the public sector unions dictate salaries, benefits and pensions. The voters repealed the bill and now with many school levies having failed, schools and local governments are looking for ways to cut expenses to meet their budgets.

Out of curiosity, I checked the Business First database for salaries for the school district I live in – Delaware. Delaware was a district whose hefty levy passed. My findings:

  • 2 Superintendents: one earning $121,290; one earning $112,019
  • 1 Assistant Superintendent earning $109,535
  • 8 Principals with salaries between $109,535 to $77,411
  • 6 Assistant Principals with salaries between $78,584 to $69,673
  • 2 Directors earning $105,165 and $98,920
  • 3 Supervisors earning between $101,106 to $65,784
  • 12 Remedial Specialists with 5 earning in the $70,000′s.
  • 11 Counselors earning between $78,887 to $51,044
  • 291 Teachers with 66 earning in the $70,000′s; 66 in the $60,000′s; 57 in the $50,000′s; 53 in the $40,000′s; 39 in the $30,000′s; and 19 below $30,000
  • 30 Clerical workers earning between $60,377 to $20,106

You might want to check YOUR district before the next election asking for more money from the voters.

Copyright © 2011. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Delaware Ohio, Dublin Ohio, Franklin County, Galena Ohio, Hilliard Ohio, Lewis Center Ohio, Powell Ohio, Schools, Surveys, Worthington Ohio

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Good News On Central Ohio’s Unemployment Rate

Posted on 10/25/2011 | Leave a comment

September unemployment rates are out and Central Ohio performed slightly better than the State as a whole. Five of the eight counties in Central Ohio fell in September. Rates FELL in Franklin (7.7%), Fairfield (7.4%), Licking (7.8%), Morrow (8.2%) and Pickway (8.9%). Delaware remained FLAT at 6.3%. Rates ROSE in Madison (8.7%) and Union (7.7%).

The September rate for all of Ohio is 9.1%, but the rate FELL for 73 of the 88 counties. Delaware was one of six counties having a 7% or below rate.

Unemployment & Rates for Central Ohio

Click to enlarge, then click again

This graph shows the number of unemployed people in Delaware and Union Counties. Between 2000 thru 2008, the rate of unemployed people was at or below 5% which I believe is considered “OK” for the economy. Then in 2009 the rate spiked and increased again in 2010. For Delaware County, even though the rates hovered between 3-4%, the number of unemployed increased but so did the population of Delaware County during those years, as the southern portion of the county grew tremendously.

Employed vs Unemployed for 2010

  • FRANKLIN COUNTY: in 2010, 573,600 were employed, 53,500 were unemployed, 8.5% rate.
  • DELAWARE COUNTY: in 2010, 85,700 were employed, 6,600 were unemployed, 7.1% rate .
  • UNION COUNTY: in 2010, 23,700 were employed, 2,200 were unemployed, 8.4% rate.

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

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Richest Communities in Central Ohio

Posted on 09/20/2011 | Leave a comment

American City Business Journals, a parent to Columbus Business First, compiled a list of the richest communities. In Ohio, New Albany came in 2nd, Powell is #11, and Dublin is #13. Indian Hill, a suburb of Cincinnati, was #1.

The measurement was the percentage of the population with household incomes over $150,000. Just under half of New Albany’s households have household incomes over that amount. Powell had 36% of households earning over $150,000 and Dublin had 35%.

Read more here. Plus you can search a database for other cities.

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

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