If you're looking to invest in the housing market, Dayton, Ohio is a solid choice. Whether you're shopping for a single family home or commercial real estate, Dayton, Ohio offers affordability wrapped in a lovely package.
In fact, Forbes has called out Dayton as one of the most affordable cities in the United States. Here's what's trending in The Gem City.
Dayton is the sixth largest city in Ohio. Unlike Cleveland, Dayton hasn't suffered from the level of urban blight that has plagued that far northern city. Dayton nestles in the Miami Valley, which ranks as the eighth most affordable county in the state.
National trends show mortgage rates as historically low, and Dayton is no exception to that rule. The economy has been steadily improving in the Dayton area, as well as across the country. In the Miami Valley, Dayton home sales soared in the summer of 2015. This chart shows the percentage of renters' verses homeowners by county in the Dayton area.
Here are the Forbes 2015 market trends for Dayton in brief:
This chart shows population by county in the surrounding region.
Sperling's Best Places says the unemployment rate is 6.3%, mirroring the national average. Job growth is positive. Compared to the rest of the states, Dayton has a cost of living that is 24% lower than the national average. The average age of Dayton dwellers is 33.5 years old.
Aerospace and health care make up the two largest employers in the area, with construction following a close third. There are a plethora of colleges, universities and technical training centers located in the area, including:
In December 2015 city planners announced a $40 million mixed-use housing and business development project for an historic building downtown. Not to be outdone, construction trends are accelerating in the areas around Dayton.
Dayton has some of the nicest suburbs in the state. Check out this great affluence score map from the Dayton Business News.
A quick look at the Dayton area in December 2015 alone yields some exciting market growth opportunities. Here are some of the highlights of the latest in community building and development trends in the area:
Single-family real estate is currently selling for around $48 per square foot. That's just slightly less than less year. The average home size is roughly 1,350 square feet. As is typical, home prices spiked to an average sale of $70,00 in the summer of 2015 and have tapered downward to the December average of $65,000.
If you're looking for a desirable community to live in, we recommend checking out the suburbs around Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Wright Patt is just east of Dayton and honors a long tradition that dates back to the Wright Brothers, who built their first plane in a bicycle shop downtown. The base is the largest single-site employer in the state, with 27,000 employees. Research and development of new air force technologies is a key component of the base. In November 2015 the President approved a $7 million base expansion related to a pharmacy project on site. The Dayton Business Journal said, "The project creates a significant business opportunity for the local construction industry and will help boost Wright-Patt's standing within the military." Some of the most popular and growing communities around the base include:
Downtown Dayton and its suburbs are doing a nice job of incentivizing new business to come into the area.
Existing business are also benefiting from positive market trends. For example, established Troy Auto Body Shop Troy Carstar just announced a $660,000 expansion. Not to be outdone, Swartz Mulch is investing $800,000 in equipment to take advantage of an expanding construction market in the Miami Valley in 2016.
The Dayton Development Coalition website lists these impressive business statistics:
While the overall Dayton, Ohio real estate market is booming, downtown Dayton has struggled with crime from time to time. The good news is that the city has steadily reduced crime; showing declines beginning around 2009 in rape, assault, property, motor vehicle, burglary and other types of crime.
The Dayton Chamber of Commerce published their 2015 outlook, predicting great things for the city in the coming years. In the region, the gross domestic product has been holding steady in 2015, while unemployment has declined. Dayton has generated considerably more jobs than it did five years ago, which bodes well for the overall real estate market in the area. The general picture is of a community and region on the upswing, making it a positive choice for real estate investing in the next five to ten years.
