Columbus Housing Market Forecast | U.S. News Housing Market Index

Similar to other U.S. cities, the central Ohio housing market was hot in 2023. Columbus is a highly sought-after market, but last year it was more challenging than ever for first-time homebuyers.

In February 2023, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission announced that recent growth places Central Ohio among the fastest-growing large metropolitan areas in the country. By March, the region set a record for median sale price of homes. Housing inventory remained tight throughout the year, but there have been improvements in the Columbus region.

“We’re seeing a fascinating shift from the trends of 2023,” says Shannon Feick, owner of ASAP Properties based in Cincinnati, Ohio. While based in Cincinnati, Feick’s work and experience extend across Ohio. “The current market can be characterized by a delicate balance of supply and demand. This is being influenced by some local economic factors.”

Columbus is expected to be one of 2024’s hottest markets, according to Zillow, boasting solid economic fundamentals, relatively fast-moving inventory for sale, stable home values and plenty of demand from hopeful buyers.

To help give you a better picture of what’s happening in Columbus, we’ve compiled the latest information from the U.S. News Housing Market Index. Here’s what you should know about how the Columbus housing market has changed over the past year and expectations for 2024.

The Columbus housing market saw several improvements in 2023. Columbus’ newly approved construction permits for single-family houses and multifamily housing (with two or more housing units) fared much better than originally forecasted, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Permit activity for single-family homes increased dramatically from 273 permits in January 2023 – the lowest since February 2019 – to 446 approved construction permits by September. Single-family permits reached the 2023 peak of 541 in August, a nearly 18% decrease month-over-month.

There were around 643 multifamily housing permits issued in September 2023, much higher than the original forecast of 484 permits. At the beginning of 2023, there were around 558 permits for construction, which gradually decreased to 340 by May and shot back up to 692 in August.

Because Central Ohio’s population is expected to grow, housing permitting will need to increase twofold from recent numbers to meet the projected need of more than 100,000 new units in the next decade, according to a report commissioned by the Building Industry Association (BIA) of Central Ohio.

Columbus’ housing supply is currently trending upward, but it’s still well below the six months that is considered a balanced market.Redfin reported there was 2.1 months’ worth of housing supply in September, up from from 1.9 months in September 2022, but down from 2.5 in January 2023. Nationally, there were 2.6 months of housing supply in September,…