HOUSINGNEWS REPORT
STATE SPOTLIGHT
CLEVELAND HOUSING: A TALE OF TWO TEAMS
BY DAREN BLOMQUIST EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Which Cleveland professional sports team best reflects the nature of its housing market? At first blush the area’s housing market might look most like the 2016 NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers . Median home prices across the five- county metropolitan area have been on a winning streak, increasing on a year-over- year basis for 18 consecutive quarters through the third quarter of 2016 to just 5 percent below the pre-recession peak in the third quarter of 2005, according to sales deed data collected by ATTOM Data Solutions. And demand for homes is gaining strength, with the volume
of Cleveland-area home sales up on a year-over-year basis for six consecutive quarters ending in the second quarter of 2016. “The (Cleveland) market had a good year in 2016, which I attribute to catching up after slow growth the past couple years,” wrote Joel Elvery, economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland , in an email interview with Housing News Report . But Elvery hesitated to put the housing market in the same category as the Cavaliers or even the Cleveland Indians, who made it to the 2016 World Series only to lose in seven games to the Chicago Cubs.
“While the Indians and Cavs were exceptional this year, Cleveland’s real estate market just had a solid season,” Elvery wrote. “Price growth was strong, but the number of new units, vacancy rates, and rent followed trend.” In fact, some Cleveland housing metrics for 2016 more resemble the Cleveland Browns, whose 1-15 regular season record was the worst in the NFL for the 2016 season and ties for the third worst in NFL history. ATTOM data shows 22.8 percent of Cleveland homeowners were seriously underwater on their homes — owing at least 25 percent more than the home is
ATTOM Data Solutions • P16
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