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Homeownership declines in state, county
Saturday, November 6, 2010 02:55 AM
By Bill Bush
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Ohio added more than 311,000 homes between 2000 and 2009, but a smaller percentage of them were occupied by their owners last year than at the start of the decade.
The housing bust and economic downturn have sent the number of renters and vacant housing units surging, according to census data. More than one in 10 housing units was vacant last year in both Ohio and Franklin County.
"Anecdotally, we've been hearing that there are more families doubling up or tripling up," said Brian Carnahan of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, which runs foreclosure-assistance counseling programs.
Reversing years of steady growth in the number of homeowners, the numbers of owner-occupied units peaked in 2005 - just before housing prices peaked, according to American Community Survey data for both the state and the county. The survey is a census product.
Since then, tens of thousands of units have been transformed into rentals or sit vacant. Ohio had 568,000 vacant units last year - 45percent more than at the start of the decade.
In Franklin County, the number of owner-occupied units fell 4 percentage points between 2005 and 2009 while the number of rental units shot up 11 percent. About 13percent of Franklin County housing units are vacant, more than the state average of 11 percent. More than 70,300 units were sitting vacant in the county last year, more than double the number at the start of the decade.
"I'm seeing that the rental market is picking up, but I'm also seeing the same with the amount of evictions, because people are losing their jobs and can't afford it," said Todd Goldman, who rents about 100 Columbus-area units through a property management company he owns.
His units rent on average for about $550 a month, Goldman said. He has rented to many former homeowners in recent years, but most striking to him is the sudden rise in evictions in the past year, as people lost jobs.
"My evictions are up 500percent from '05, '06," Goldman said. "I used to do three or four a year, now I'm doing over 20 a year, 25 a year."
Many of the people Goldman evicts move in with friends or family, he said.
That helps explain the vacancy rate, because the demand for housing units has fallen, said Carnahan, who is director of program compliance at the Housing Finance Agency.
Jim Newton, chief economic adviser to Commerce National Bank in Columbus, forecasts that homeownership will continue to fall for at least a couple more years because of loose lending standards and other "absolutely horrible housing (policy) decisions" in the past.
"All of these kinds of things allowed people to borrow money that didn't have the standard of living to allow an increase in homeownership rates," Newton said. "And now it's unwinding, and it's unwinding to the point, sadly, where even people who did the responsible thing are being hurt.
"Now, ladled on top of the housing mess is a labor market not able to support jobs."
Bill Faith, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, said the numbers also show that various government mortgage-modification programs didn't work.
"They were a flop, let's be clear," Faith said.
"I don't think (having more renters) is all bad - I'm not complaining," Faith said. "A lot of people should rent. It's better for them."
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content...y.html?sid=101
Saturday, November 6, 2010 02:55 AM
By Bill Bush
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Ohio added more than 311,000 homes between 2000 and 2009, but a smaller percentage of them were occupied by their owners last year than at the start of the decade.
The housing bust and economic downturn have sent the number of renters and vacant housing units surging, according to census data. More than one in 10 housing units was vacant last year in both Ohio and Franklin County.
"Anecdotally, we've been hearing that there are more families doubling up or tripling up," said Brian Carnahan of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, which runs foreclosure-assistance counseling programs.
Reversing years of steady growth in the number of homeowners, the numbers of owner-occupied units peaked in 2005 - just before housing prices peaked, according to American Community Survey data for both the state and the county. The survey is a census product.
Since then, tens of thousands of units have been transformed into rentals or sit vacant. Ohio had 568,000 vacant units last year - 45percent more than at the start of the decade.
In Franklin County, the number of owner-occupied units fell 4 percentage points between 2005 and 2009 while the number of rental units shot up 11 percent. About 13percent of Franklin County housing units are vacant, more than the state average of 11 percent. More than 70,300 units were sitting vacant in the county last year, more than double the number at the start of the decade.
"I'm seeing that the rental market is picking up, but I'm also seeing the same with the amount of evictions, because people are losing their jobs and can't afford it," said Todd Goldman, who rents about 100 Columbus-area units through a property management company he owns.
His units rent on average for about $550 a month, Goldman said. He has rented to many former homeowners in recent years, but most striking to him is the sudden rise in evictions in the past year, as people lost jobs.
"My evictions are up 500percent from '05, '06," Goldman said. "I used to do three or four a year, now I'm doing over 20 a year, 25 a year."
Many of the people Goldman evicts move in with friends or family, he said.
That helps explain the vacancy rate, because the demand for housing units has fallen, said Carnahan, who is director of program compliance at the Housing Finance Agency.
Jim Newton, chief economic adviser to Commerce National Bank in Columbus, forecasts that homeownership will continue to fall for at least a couple more years because of loose lending standards and other "absolutely horrible housing (policy) decisions" in the past.
"All of these kinds of things allowed people to borrow money that didn't have the standard of living to allow an increase in homeownership rates," Newton said. "And now it's unwinding, and it's unwinding to the point, sadly, where even people who did the responsible thing are being hurt.
"Now, ladled on top of the housing mess is a labor market not able to support jobs."
Bill Faith, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, said the numbers also show that various government mortgage-modification programs didn't work.
"They were a flop, let's be clear," Faith said.
"I don't think (having more renters) is all bad - I'm not complaining," Faith said. "A lot of people should rent. It's better for them."
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content...y.html?sid=101