City listed in top 10 real estate deals

Cincinnati is listed as one of the top 10 cities to have real estate steals.

The study, conducted by the U.S. News and World Report, researched price-to-income data for 384 of the nation’s major metropolitan areas. The report compared recent figures with past averages and used those numbers to assemble a list of the top 10 cities for real estate bargains.

Cincinnati ranked 10th, representing the only city in Ohio.

Home prices in the city remained relatively affordable throughout the recent real estate crisis and home prices will continue to decline from foreclosures, eventually bottoming out sometime later this year, according to the report.

Terry Hankner, president of Comey and Shepherd Realtors, a local real estate company, said this is due in part to the city not participating in the ups and downs of the home market like other major metropolitan areas.

“Blame it on [Cincinnati’s] conservative nature,” she said.

Diversified employment and a good mix of corporations contributed to steadiness in the local market, Hankner said.

Real estate is not on the same level as such cities as New York or Boston, making it more affordable, said Benjamin Passty, a University of Cincinnati economics professor.

“[Cincinnati] is not the same density, so there’s not the same demand for space,” Passty said. “So there is not the same push on the real estate market here because we’re not on the level of the mega markets.”

In a city with space at a premium, such as New York City, prices will be much higher than Cincinnati’s, Passty said.

The city has experienced a 20- to 30-percent decrease in real estate prices just in the past three years, Passty said.

While the current state of home prices in the city might be beneficial to buyers, it
has drawbacks.

Despite the steadiness of the market, real estate companies have been affected, Hankner said.

“Every company in town had to readjust,” she said.

Foreclosures dragging down the value of nearby homes have forced sellers to become more realistic when pricing their homes and real estate agents to become more realistic on their commissions, Hankner said.

“Prices in a specific neighborhood will often depend on what is going on in that neighborhood,” she said.

One such neighborhood in Cincinnati will soon play a future role in local real estate - Over-the-Rhine, Passty said.

“In 20 to 30 years I see [OTR] being the place to be, attracting people with money to the area because of its diverse collection of people,” Passty said.