Ohio’s 3 Cities Lead 2024 Housing Boom
Home buyers and investors looking for a piece of Ohio’s real estate market are in for a disappointment in terms of prices. According to Zillow’s predictions, Ohio and the greater Midwest region will dominate the national housing market.
Ohio is well-represented, with Cincinnati coming in at second and Columbus rounding up the top three. The Cleveland housing market will also stand out, ranking No. 8 on the list of the hottest housing markets. Zillow ranked Buffalo’s housing market as the nation’s most competitive in 2024.
Another Midwestern city worth watching is Indianapolis, which ranks fourth on Zillow’s list. These housing markets will keep thriving amidst low inventory, high mortgage rates, and rising home prices.
The competitiveness of the housing market relies on several factors, as measured by Zillow. These include:
- Forecasted home value appreciation
- Predicted acceleration in home value appreciation
- Listing days per home
- The pace of home sales
- The estimated ratio of new jobs to new homes
- Projected change in the number of owner-occupied homes.
Zillow’s list emerged a few weeks after Realtor.com released its 2024 forecast for the housing market. Realtor.com did not include the three Ohio cities featured on Zillow’s list. And it ranked Toledo as the nation’s most competitive housing market in 2024. The rankings on Realtor.com are primarily based on projected sales and home price appreciation.
Regardless of which list will prove accurate, the consensus is clear. Those looking to join the Ohio housing market should brace for increased competition and higher prices. For instance, home prices in central Ohio have surged by over 40% since the end of 2019. Although prices stabilized a little in 2023, they continue to outpace the national average.
Zillow cautions that the housing market will generally remain tight for prospective buyers. Although recent months have seen increased optimism about improved affordability due to the dropping mortgage rates, it’s unlikely that the challenges that plagued the housing market in the previous year will disappear entirely.
Despite the significant price jumps, Midwestern cities listed in Zillow’s top 10 hottest real estate markets in 2024 remain relatively affordable compared to the national average. An example is Columbus, where the typical home value stands at $232,847, considerably lower than the national average of $342,685.
