As we continue our expanded coverage of rents and amenities in 2017 we next look at Ohio. Before we go into each market within the state, here are a few quick details to point out.

• In terms of properties and units, Ohio ranks fifth in the number of properties and ninth in the number of multifamily units.
• In terms of the average number of units per property, Ohio ranks with right in the middle at number 25 with an average of 98 units per property.
• With an average of just 145 units per community in properties built since 2010, Ohio again ranks in the middle tier of states.
• At a statewide average of $834 per unit and $0.93 per square foot, Ohio ranks as the 11^th least expensive state for multifamily conventional housing.
• At an average age of 36 years, Ohio also has relatively old multifamily product. It currently ranks 6^th in terms of average building age.

We have divided Ohio into 4 distinct broad metro areas: Cincinnati-Dayton, Toledo, Cleveland and Columbus. Those are furthermore divided into submarkets. Here’s a brief look at those markets.

CLEVELAND/AKRON
Cleveland is the largest of our Ohio markets in terms of property count with 1426 properties and 177,474 units. Of those, 886 properties with 50 or more units (totaling 128,880 units) are in conventional properties. We have demarcated 14 submarkets in the greater Cleveland area with East Cleveland having the most conventional properties at 137 and the Madison/Geneva/Ashtabula having the least with 14 properties. At $1.32 per square foot and $1187 per unit, the Downtown/Midtown area is by far the most expensive. The outlying western counties come in with some of the highest occupancy rates – at an average of 95% – and the least expensive rents at only $518 per unit. Cleveland also has the oldest average property with the average age for all the properties at 41 years old.

CINCINNATI/DAYTON
With 154,000 units in 1211 properties, the Cincinnati/Dayton market is the next largest Ohio market in property count. Almost 114,000 of those units are in conventional properties. The average effective rent per unit is $847 and the average occupancy for the metro area is 92.9%. Unsurprisingly, the downtown area garners the highest rents at $1182 per unit and $1.39 per square foot. The Mason/Lebanon/Middletown and Covington/Newport submarkets follow behind at $1.02 per square foot and $1023 and $929 per unit respectively. The Dayton submarkets come in as the least expensive with prices in the $0.75 per square foot range.

COLUMBUS
Columbus has the newest product by comparison with buildings having an average age of 29 years. There are 156,000 units in 1059 properties with 130,000 units in 881 conventional properties in the 10 Columbus area submarkets. Overall occupancy in the area is at 92.5% and the average unit nets $881 per month. The Airport/I-70 corridor is the most populous multifamily submarket with almost 34,000 conventional units. New Construction has brought average occupancy in the Downtown submarket to 84.3% and pushed prices up to $1.36 per square foot for rentals.

TOLEDO
There are 482 properties with 41,500 units, so the average community in the Toledo market has just 86 units. Of those 482 properties, 259 can be considered conventional product. Average occupancy in this market is a remarkable 94.7%. Of the eight submarkets in the area, four of them have greater than 95% average occupancy. Prices in this market are well below the state average with the average unit going for $673 per unit and $0.81 per square foot.

The Ohio markets seem poised to make the transition from older, smaller communities to more conventional and updated multifamily products. While we have seen the boom in the inner metro submarkets, look for growth in the suburban areas to transition to this newer product as well.

As of February 1st, 2017, ALN Apartment Data, Inc. covers 107 markets in 33 states, with more going live each month! For a complete list of markets available in ALN OnLine, please visit our ALN OnLine page on our website.