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Yesterday I posted some more gloom and doom news about the national picture in real estate (an expected drop of 8.6% in home sales nationwide this year). I thought it was only fitting that to put that decrease in home sales into perspective I would offer up a silver lining and keep it local. While the number of sales nationwide is down significantly, there MUST be an increase in the number of homes sold per year in the greater Cincinnati area, or at least this is true when we look at the long-term of the past 5 to 7 years instead of just this year.

Since 2000, the percentage of owner-occupied housing in the greater Cincinnati area has grown from 66.2% of homes to 69.6% of homes. This is a significant improvement over a seven year period (the figure was through the end of 2006 - not through the year to date in 2007). Ironically, in 2000, the national average was also 66.2% of homes in America being owner-occupied. So in 2000, the Cincinnati area was just a prime example of the mix of homeowners and renters, a microcosm of the nation if you will.

The national homeownership percentage also increased over that same time period, but not by as much as the greater Cincinnati area. The national average for homeownership was 67.3% at the end of 2006, well below Cincinnati’s level of 69.6%.

There is some caution to reading these numbers in such a positive light though. Within the city of Cincinnati itself, the home ownership rate did increase but remains well below the national, state, and regional levels. The city of Cincinnati increased from 38.9% in 2000 to 42.3% at the end of 2006. The state level was 70%.

Certain high growth suburbs, like Mason, Ohio in Warren county helped drive up the median home price AND the percent of homeownership in the area.

In stark contrast, a recent article in the Cincinnati Enquirer highlighted the Hamilton County Sheriff’s role in assisting Cincinnati Police in reducing the amount of crime in neighborhoods like Over the Rhine. While the article was directed at the city and county joining forces to reduce inner city crime, it did casually mention in passing that the homeownership rate in Over the Rhine was less than 10%!!! That’s right, single digits. Less than 1 in 10 people.

So now we see the two extremes tugging on the average… Mason and similar suburbs on one extreme of good examples of growth, and Over the Rhine and inner city neighborhoods struggling to compete with the suburbs.

It is still encouraging to see homeownership levels on the rise though, both locally and on the national scale. Only time will tell if or to what extend this growth in homeownership was attributed to risky mortgage products that would have otherwise forced some new home owners to continue to rent.

As always, I welcome your comments and feedback…

Numerous statistics and references were drawn from the Cincinnati Enquirer online edition. Namely, the article Homeownership at Record High by Enquirer writer Lisa Bernard-Kuhn was used as a reference in writing this blog entry.