COLUMBUS, Ohio — Anyone who has tried to buy a home in Columbus in the past couple of years knows how difficult it can be. Homes often sell within days of going on the market and above asking price. It’s an issue that has prevented some would-be homebuyers from entering the market.
There are a multitude of issues that have contributed to Columbus’ hot housing market. Some of it is demand as people move to the region for jobs. Another issue is large outside real estate investors swooping in to purchase properties and turn them into rentals.
This story is part of 10TV's "Boomtown" initiative — our commitment to covering every angle of central Ohio's rapid growth. This includes highlighting success stories, shining a light on growing pains and seeking solutions to issues in your everyday life.
According to real estate listing company Redfin, 14.5% of homes sales in the second quarter of 2024 were to investors. It’s an issue cities across the country are facing. Cleveland saw 19.6% of home sales go to investors during the same period.
“June is when I initially started looking. I was so optimistic, and I thought it would be pretty painless. I thought I would look at seven, maybe eight, and I'd be in contract,” said Sicely Murphy.
For her, it took months and more than 25 declined offers before she found a house.
“We ended up finding a foreclosure and we managed to get an offer through. That was a Christmas miracle,” she said.
She said the biggest issue she faced were big-money buyers outbidding her.
“If you have a conventional loan approval, you can’t compete with someone who can plop down hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash the day it went on the market. You can’t win,” Murphy said.
Investors are just a part of the issue. Britt Gerena is a realtor in the Columbus area. She said while investors might play a part in the competitiveness of the market, it’s also the issue that Columbus is growing faster than it has in a long time.
“It’s been a tough year. It’s a combination of things. Columbus is on fire. We have a ton of relocations, we have a lot of business coming here,” Gerena said. “There’s been a big population boom Columbus hasn’t been used to. For a really long time, Columbus has been somewhat of a big, small city and now it’s becoming a big city.”
She said some of it is people moving to the region from more expensive housing markets. What might be considered expensive here is considered affordable elsewhere.
“Really what the Columbus market needs to get used to is we aren’t just a little sister anymore in the state of Ohio. We’re a big player, we’re a big city, and with that comes growing pains,” she said.
The Central Ohio Community Land Trust is working with developers to build homes on their land to sell at less than market value in an effort to allow the average earner to enter the market.
“The community land trust owns the land and we are actually leasing the land to the homebuyer. The fact we have a 99-year mortgage on it restricts the sale of this property to someone who doesn't meet a certain requirement,” said Curtiss Williams, President and CEO of the Central Ohio Community Improvement Corporation, the group overseeing the COCLT.
The homes are sold to the homebuyer, but the land remains in the hands of the COCLT. The homebuilding program started in 2019. To date, COCLT has built 130 homes. Each of the starter-sized homes take about 90 days to complete once the permitting and other city processes are complete.
Senator Sherrod Brown toured one of the homes Tuesday. He is proposing the “Stop Predatory Investing Act.” It would take away the tax breaks for real estate investors owning more than 50 homes.
“If you own 60 homes, 100 homes, 1000 homes, you are not a mom-and-pop landlord. You likely don't live here. You are like in it to exploit the property owner and the local renter,” Senator Brown said.
10TV reached out to Brown’s opponent, Republican Bernie Moreno, but did not hear back.